India and Sri Lanka have a long history of close ties in terms of culture, language and religion. There is ample evidence of this relationship in the narrative of Ramayana. During the period of the Mauryan Empire, Ashoka sent his son Mahendra to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism in the island country. Thus, cultural ties between India and Sri Lanka stand on a solid footing.
While there is no major maritime boundary dispute between the two countries, fishermen from both sides inadvertently enter each other's territory, resulting in sporadic confrontations between the navies of the two countries. During the LTTE era, relations between the two countries deteriorated greatly and the Tamil problem became a major point of confrontation between the governments of the two countries.
India-Sri Lanka relations suffered a lot due to several problems related to the organisation's terrorist activities during the LTTE era. As a result of the tireless efforts of the Sri Lankan army, the LTTE could be eliminated in the end which ushered in a new peaceful era on the island. This is also good news for India as it no longer needs to deal with refugee problems on its shores. The domestic politics of the state of Tamil Nadu has also often dominated political thinking in New Delhi, and this tension was the highest during the era of coalition politics.
Another thorny aspect in India-Sri Lanka relations is China. To maximize its economic advantage by using its important location in the Indian Ocean region, Sri Lanka has entered into an economic and strategic partnership with China. India has a turbulent past with China and China's interference in its natural sphere of dominance and influence has upset India.
The paper will study various dimensions of India-Sri Lanka relations in general and the maritime dimension in the 21st century in particular. |
