Three weeks ahead of Sri Lanka’s crucial Presidential election National Security Adviser Ajit K. Doval, who arrived in Colombo on Thursday (August 29, 2024), met prominent Presidential aspirants, apart from political leaders representing the island nation’s Tamil and Muslim minorities.
In his meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is seeking a mandate promising “economic stability”, Mr. Doval discussed ongoing economic collaboration between Sri Lanka and India, the Presidential Media Division said.
Mr. Doval also met opposition figures Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who are the incumbent Mr. Wickremesinghe’s chief challengers in the September 21 contest — that will see nearly three dozen other aspirants vying for the country’s top office. India’s bilateral cooperation in economic development and security interests were among the main talking points in the meetings, sources said.
Mr. Premadasa leads Sri Lanka’s main Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB or United People’s Force), a break-away faction of Mr. Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP).
Posting on social media platform ‘X’ after his meeting with the visiting Indian NSA, Mr. Dissanayake, who leads the centre-left National People’s Power coalition, said: “We discussed the political relations between our two countries and the current political situation leading up to the presidential election.”
Message to minorities
Mr. Doval also held extensive discussions with leaders representing the country’s ethnic minorities such as Tamils living in the north and east, the Malaiyaha (hill country) Tamils spread across the south and central parts of the island, and the Muslims. In what political sources took away as a key message from the meetings, Mr. Doval reportedly told the leaders that Tamil parties, currently grappling with internal divisions, could strengthen their position in national politics by working together with a coherent position. Mr. Doval is said to have remarked that in a democracy, it is “numbers that count”, a Colombo-based political source, who requested anonymity, told The Hindu on Friday.
Mr. Doval also met Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena on Thursday. In addition to key areas of bilateral cooperation partnerships in the energy sector, including with private sector participation, were discussed, according to a press statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office.
India has agreed to develop multiple power projects in Sri Lanka, across LNG and renewable energy initiatives. On Thursday, Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Santosh Jha handed over the first payment for India-backed hybrid energy projects in the Delft, Nainativu, and Analaitivu islands off Jaffna peninsula. The initiative displaced a similar venture China had agreed to fund.
Further, Adani Green Energy has committed over $440 million for a wind power project in northern Sri Lanka. The project now faces a legal challenge following local opposition to it over environmental concerns.
“Mr. Doval said in the long run, Sri Lanka could generate more power than its domestic requirement and sell excess power to India and gain huge financial benefits. He pointed out that Bhutan is selling large amount of hydro power generated electricity to India, and it is the largest revenue of that country,” PM Gunawardena’s office said in the statement.
Security conclave
Meanwhile, member states of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) — Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Maldives and Mauritius — on Friday signed the charter & Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the CSC Secretariat.
Described a regional “minilateral”, the grouping seeks to focus on security in the Indian Ocean Region, in the wake of China’s growing influence.
Bangladesh was not represented at the signing, an official statement indicated. Along with Mr. Doval, Maldivian NSA Ibrahim Latheef, Haymandoyal Dillum, High Commissioner of Mauritius to Sri Lanka, Sagala Ratnayake, NSA to the President of Sri Lanka, signed the documents on behalf of the member states, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
