COLOMBO – Sri Lanka has generally seen anti-Indian sentiment rise close to its elections, but this has been notably absent in the run-up to the general election on November 14.

The most recent case when anti-Indian sentiment was whipped up was when India’s Adani group was to be awarded a Mannar wind power plant, which came without a tender, ahead of the presidential election.

In June, three environmentalists and a Catholic Bishop filed a fundamental rights (FR) petition in Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court over Adani Green Energy’s Mannar wind power plant citing lack of transparency, secrecy of public information, biased Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and the pricing.

The Indian company has complained of a possible “vicious campaign” against its 250 MW wind-powered energy project in Mannar and has said it has followed all the procedures.

Sri Lanka will revisit and discuss the Adani renewable energy project when a government delegation visits New Delhi in January next year on the invitation of the Indian government, a ruling National People’s Power (NPP) member said.

“We have categorically said even before the election, we are not happy with that. We indicated to Adani group as well as the Indian government that we are not happy with this (tariff) rate,” Chathuranga Abeysinghe, an NPP member who has been commenting on economic matters, told a weekly television show Face the Nation last week.

Old enemies

Sri Lanka’s nationalist and leftist politicians have often used anti-Indian sentiment to win votes when they face elections. Such moves have strained diplomatic relations with India in the past.

However, India helped with a credit line and aid when the island nation faced its economic crisis in 2022.

Analysts have pointed out that a non-aligned foreign policy is crucial to navigating the India-China geopolitical tension within Sri Lanka.

The NPP gained popularity due to disillusionment with the main political parties and claimed to have a strong stance against corruption, which they blame for the economic crisis.

On the campaign trail, candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s criticism of previous governments, even those he was a part of, appealed to government employees, trade unions (which usually instigate and lead protests), and rural voters.

But after he visited New Delhi in February on an official invitation, ahead of the country’s presidential elections, the party notably toned down its anti-India rhetoric.

The visit still led to a new wave of anti-Indian sentiment from certain segments of business and religious leaders who raised concerns. There have been concerted efforts by social media accounts to whip up a frenzy too.

“We feel there is some deal,” Walahahengunawewe Dhammaratana Thera, Chief Incumbent of Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya told reporters at the time.

“We ask Anura [current president and JVP leader] whether he questioned the Indian leaders over Sri Lanka being included in the Indian map as part of India, whether he spoke against the power deals violating Sri Lanka’s sovereignty,” he questioned.

The JVP has in the past strongly protested an Indian agreement with Sri Lanka and many Indian projects citing they are part of Indian expansionism that will deprive opportunities for locals.

JVP-led protests have halted many Indian investments in Sri Lanka. Notably, affiliated groups protested against leasing the strategic Trincomalee tank farm to Indian Oil Corporation.

“What is the stance your party took over India keeping Trincomalee oil tanks?” Dhammaratana Thera questioned the JVP leader back then.

India has been increasingly investing in Sri Lanka’s energy sector and has proposed direct oil and gas pipeline connectivity between the two countries. It has also proposed buying any excess electricity generated through Indian renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka.

“What is the deal with Ajih Dowal who made Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Indian secret service puppets? Did you take or give an election bribe of $10 million from Indian businessmen? What did you say about Adani’s renewable energy project which is looting? What is the role played by the US ambassador on getting Indian money or backing for your next election?” the Thera questioned.

Political actors

Usually, anti-India sentiment is the forte of nationalist politicians like Wimal Weerawansa (former JVP) and his ilk who campaign on this stance.

When the current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was invited to India whilst a member of Parliament, Weerawansa claimed it was to sign the Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) deal which is opposed by some Sri Lankans.

“As per the information we have got, India is to sign an ETCA deal with Sri Lanka very soon. ETCA means opening both the Sri Lankan trade and labour market to India. That means depriving the opportunity for Sri Lankans,” Weerawansa told reporters in February.

“When they (India) want to make this (country) as a colony, they want to control all the political parties like kittens,” he said.

“What India wants is to give is a leg massage and keep (Sri Lanka) people happy and say don’t interfere on what they do.”

However, Weerawansa is among several prominent local politicians, who previously held senior ministerial positions that have announced they will not be contesting in the upcoming parliamentary elections. This could be one reason for the anti-India sentiment to recede from the political stage.

Sri Lanka’s political parties are also now fragmented in the post-economic crisis political landscape with no party or person likely to get a clear majority. Many have formed new coalitions, including the president’s party.

President Dissanayake has moderated the JVP’s views under its National People’s Power (NPP) coalition.

In the past

At around the same time Anil Hewaththa Neththikumara, a trade unionist at the state-run Sri Lanka Telecom said the Indian invitation was ahead of a possible Indian deal with Sri Lanka Telecom.

In an attempt to restructure state-owned enterprises, the previous government sought to divest Sri Lanka Telecom.

One of the two pre-qualified bidders it chose for Sri Lanka Telecom under the State Owned Enterprises Structuring programme was Jio Platforms Ltd of India.

“All know that JVP is the radical outfit which organizes protest campaigns. An Indian firm is going to buy Sri Lanka Telecom in the near future and this is just to make sure there is consensus over the deal and there are protests against that,” Neththikumara told reporters then.

Seasonal stunts

Nationalist politician Udaya Gammanpila, leader of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, has also not brought up India on his campaigning platform, opting instead to focus on the 2019 Easter Attack, and the current government’s attempts to bury reports.

“JVP banned all Indian products except Buddhism in the past. We appreciate the JVP’s change,” he has said.

Back in 2017, Sri Lanka’s police arrested Namal Rajapaksa and two of his parliamentary colleagues D. V. Chanaka and Prasanna Ranaweera for leading a violent anti-India demonstration.

Video footage showed Namal, with hundreds of protesters, chanting anti-India slogans and marching towards the Indian consulate at Hambantota.

He accused the government of trying to sell the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport built by his father at a rock-bottom price to an Indian company.

The junior Rajapakse, a nationalist, who is hoping to get elected through the national list this time, has also not broached the topic this election cycle.

India’s gifts

Back in 2016, Sri Lanka’s then foreign minister, the late Mangala Samaraweera said local neo-fascists are firing anti-Indian sentiments while cloaked in a religion and historical links imported from that country, displaying “muddled thinking”.

“These neo-fascists seem to see an Indian under every bush and live in eternal fear of Indians swarming into Sri Lanka,” Samaraweera told a meeting of the Indo-Lanka Society way back in 2016.

“Whenever a bridge over the Palk Straits to connect our two nations is proposed, they get into a paranoid frenzy that all of India is waiting to drive over that bridge and make Sri Lanka their home, when trade agreements are discussed they see swarms of Indian doctors and barbers coming across to flood the Sri Lankan market.

Samaraweera pointed out, that Buddhism came to Sri Lanka from India, but some who follow the religion in Sri Lanka and claim kinship to an Indian lion based on a historical legend feared India most.

“So it is strange that the very people who should be most grateful to India – which so generously gave the majority of this country their great religion, Buddhism,” he said.

“[T]hose misguided Sinhalese Buddhists of this country who wear their ethnicity and religion on their sleeve and who claim blood relationship to a lion as related in the mythical history of the Sinhala people, the Mahavamsa, are the ones who fear India the most.”

“This insecure, reactionary and muddled thinking does not do justice to the Sinhalese race’s great and long history, nor does it do justice to the gentle, compassionate and moderate majority of this country whose quiet observance of the Five Precepts and the best of Buddhist values in their daily lives is an example to the entire world,” he said.

India’s gifts

India has proposed land connectivity to establish Ramayana trails in Sri Lanka while both South Asian nations are exploring establishing oil and gas pipes as well as an electricity grid between the two countries.

Most recently, India helped Sri Lanka with financial and humanitarian aid when the island nation was facing its worst economic crisis in 2022.

As one of the fastest emerging world powers, India has been pushing its influence in Sri Lanka after the island nation saw strong influence and investments from China under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s rule.

India has been looking to expand its presence in Sri Lanka in oil, renewable energy and port sectors in partnership with the Indian private sector.

However, after two-time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s less-than-expected win at India’s last parliamentary election, analysts believe though it may not change its foreign policy towards Sri Lanka, India’s aggressive push for connectivity and infrastructure projects in the island nation could slow down.

-economynext.com