Newly-elected Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will visit New Delhi on February 16 on his first state visit abroad. This visit is seen as an effort to repair relations with New Delhi which had cooled under the previous government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Soon after assuming power Sirisena announced a recaliberation of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and to shun its obvious pro-China bent. Sirisena’s administration has ordered a review of all Chinese infrastructure projects awarded under the Rajapaksa government, a move expected to sit well with India and Western nations concerned about Beijing’s growing influence and military presence in the region.
Rajapaksa’s decision to allow two Chinese submarines to dock in Sri Lanka last year angered India, as the move breached an existing agreement between the two countries.
Sirisena’s visit to New Delhi is likely to cover the issue of granting autonomy to the island nation’s northern provinces inhabited by the Tamil minority, which the Rajapaksa government had failed to fulfill.