Modi to Visit Sri Lanka Amid Balancing Act with China

Sri Lanka is set to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week. This visit is important as it will be the first time a foreign leader comes to Sri Lanka under the new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake. A source from Dissanayake’s office shared that Modi’s visit is scheduled for April 5, where he will have talks with the president and visit Anuradhapura, a famous Buddhist city. He will return the next day.

After being elected in September, President Dissanayake first traveled to New Delhi in December. In January, he visited Beijing to strengthen ties with China, showing how Sri Lanka is trying to balance relationships between its two powerful neighbors.

India is worried about China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka, which it believes should be in its area of influence. China has become Sri Lanka’s biggest creditor, lending more than half of its $14 billion in debts when Sri Lanka faced serious financial issues in 2022. China was also the first country to help restructure Sri Lanka’s loans, which helped the country recover from a major economic crisis.

During Dissanayake’s visit to China, both countries agreed to work together in areas like the ocean, farming, tourism, and media. In the past, Sri Lanka had trouble repaying a large loan from China and had to give China control of its southern port, Hambantota. India has raised concerns about Chinese research ships coming to Sri Lanka’s ports, fearing they might spy on Indian military sites, which China denies.