COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) – The Marxist lawmaker who won Sri Lanka’s presidential election is seeking to attract foreign investment and exit Sri Lanka’s economy, as the country’s two most important partners, India and China, We are faced with an important challenge: how to balance relationships. No wind.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, 55, was elected at the weekend in an unusual political turmoil for the former political custodian, with voters blaming him for plunging the country into its worst economic crisis two years ago. won. Mr Dissanayake must now deliver on his promises to improve the lives of Sri Lankans, clean up the government and ease austerity measures imposed by international financial institutions.
But looking beyond Sri Lanka’s borders, he will also have to navigate conflicts between regional power neighbors India and China, where Mr Dissanayake’s party has traditionally been leaning.
Sri Lanka is located on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and has long been the focus of two regional rivals. Sri Lanka’s government is torn between two camps, with New Delhi and Beijing in a fierce battle for influence in the island nation of 22 million people.
“Dissanayake will try to keep both India and China at equal distance,” said Colombo-based political analyst Veeragathy Thanavarasingam, but his ability to balance the two countries will be tested in the coming weeks. He said that there is a high possibility that “It’s going to be a tightrope walk,” he added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping both congratulated Dissanayake immediately after his victory.
The winner was Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Alliance, led by the People’s Liberation Front (also known as Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP)). The Front identifies itself as Marxist, but currently expresses support for free market economics.
Dissanayake and his party have traditionally been seen as ideologically closer to China.
Analysts say this could mean attracting more investment from China, but an economic collapse in 2022 could see the Sri Lankan government overtake Chinese loans and push the country’s debt down. Investment has slowed since he was accused of increasing the amount.
Chinese money soon became a source of concern at home, but the economic crisis allowed India to step up and provide significant financial and material aid to its neighbors, gaining some leverage.
Immediately after Dissanayake took office, the Chinese government said it wanted to work with the new government in promoting development and cooperation in building China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Under Dissanayake, “there could be even more Chinese money flowing into Sri Lanka,” said Happymon Jacob, founder of the New Delhi-based Strategic Defense Research Council, which is a concern for India. He added that it could lead to
For New Delhi, Dissanayake and his Democratic Party allies could pose a new challenge. The party has previously criticized what it calls “Indian expansionism” in the region, with Dissanayake calling for more power to be ceded to northern and eastern Sri Lanka, where most of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority lives. However, it has refused, saying that this is an issue close to India, considering the cultural ties of the community. To Tamil Nadu.
During his campaign, Dissanayake also said he would shut down a wind power project financed by Gautam Adani, an Indian billionaire seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a “corrupt deal”.
Indian analysts said Mr. Dissanayake’s victory was a sign that many neighboring countries have recently moved towards Beijing, including Nepal and the Maldives, where many pro-Beijing leaders have grown, and Bangladesh, where a pro-India leader was ousted last month. He says that he was born in the midst of New Delhi’s regional power will be tested.
But Constantino Xavier, a senior fellow at the Center for Social and Economic Progress, said China’s subsidies and credit facilities across South Asia have slowed over the past four years. This has made countries in the region “realize that they have to reset their relationships with India,” he added.
Similarly, Mr. Dissanayake has so far taken a pragmatic approach towards India, and New Delhi has been keen to get involved.
In February, months before elections were announced, the leader was invited to India and met with the country’s foreign minister. After the results were announced, the Indian envoy in Colombo was the first to meet Mr. Dissanayake.
As a neighboring country, “we have to be concerned about India’s stability, our national interests, our national security when we make decisions,” Dissanayake told The Associated Press in an interview weeks before the election.
“Our main objective is regional security and we will not allow any party to use our land, sea or air to cause instability,” he added.
In the past, Chinese research vessels have docked at Sri Lankan ports, raising New Delhi’s security concerns about China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean.
Colombo-based analyst Thanabalasingam said Dissanayake’s party has largely transformed into a liberal democratic party for practical purposes, making it easier to do business with different countries and partners. He remains the leader of a Marxist party but says he now supports free market economics.
But Mr. Dissanayake may need to appeal to domestic voters, including anti-India nationalists, which could put more pressure on China to curry favor.
Xavier said, “In order to maximize his negotiating power with India, he will first deal with China in order to hone his capabilities at home.”
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Pati reported from New Delhi.
