COLOMBO
\nIndia secured defence and energy deals with neighbouring Sri Lanka on Saturday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit, seen as a move to counter rival China\u2019s growing influence in the region.
\nSri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake rolled out the red carpet for Modi and conferred on him the country\u2019s highest civilian honour for \u201cthe deep personal friendship\u201d shown to the smaller neighbour.
\n\u201cWe believe that our security interests are aligned,\u201d Modi said during a televised ceremony from Dissanayake\u2019s office in the capital.
\n\u201cOur security is interdependent and interconnected.\u201d
\nA five-year defence cooperation agreement provides training of Sri Lankan military personnel in India as well as information and technology sharing.
\nDissanayake applauded what he called \u201cIndia\u2019s rise as a world power, not just a regional power\u201d.
\n\u201cI have reiterated our position to Prime Minister Modi that Sri Lankan territory will not be allowed to be used by anyone to undermine India\u2019s security,\u201d he added.
\nIndia has previously objected to Chinese submarines and research vessels which have called at the main seaport in Colombo.
\nSri Lanka has not allowed Chinese submarines to dock since 2014, after India raised concerns over two such visits.
\nLast year, Colombo imposed a ban on foreign research vessels following New Delhi\u2019s accusations that Chinese ships were being used to spy on India.
\nOn Saturday, Dissanayake welcomed Modi — the first foreign dignitary to visit Colombo since the leftist leader swept to power last year — with a 19-gun salute.
\n– Balancing China –
\nThe two leaders also celebrated the start of construction of a 120-megawatt solar power project, developed as a joint venture between the two nations.
\nThe solar plant, located in the island\u2019s northeastern Trincomalee district, had been stalled for years but was reinvigorated with New Delhi\u2019s backing.
\nModi\u2019s visit comes as Colombo grapples with the competing interests of New Delhi and Beijing.
\nIndia has become concerned about China\u2019s influence in Sri Lanka, which it sees as falling within its sphere of interest.
\nDissanayake\u2019s first foreign visit was to New Delhi in December, but he followed it with a visit to Beijing in January, underscoring Sri Lanka\u2019s delicate balancing act.
\nChina has emerged as Sri Lanka\u2019s largest single bilateral creditor, accounting for more than half of its $14 billion bilateral debt at the time the island defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2022.
\nBeijing was also the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka, a move that helped pave the way for the island to emerge from its worst economic meltdown.
\nIn January, Colombo announced it had signed an agreement with a Chinese state-owned company to invest $3.7 billion in an oil refinery in the island\u2019s south.
\nThe deal would mark Sri Lanka\u2019s largest single foreign investment and is seen as crucial for its economic recovery.
\nModi\u2019s visit to Sri Lanka followed a summit in Thailand and a string of meetings with leaders of neighbouring nations as he sought to shore up India\u2019s regional ties.
\nOn the sidelines of the Bangkok BIMSTEC meeting — the grouping of seven nations on the Bay of Bengal — Modi held a rare face-to-face meeting with Myanmar\u2019s junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing.
\nHe also held talks on Friday with the interim leader of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus — the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi\u2019s long-time ally Sheikh Hasina and sent relations into a tailspin.
\nIndia had been the biggest benefactor of Hasina\u2019s government, and her overthrow prompted Yunus to make his first state visit last month to China.
\nModi also met on Friday in Bangkok with his Nepali counterpart, KP Sharma Oli — their first meeting since Oli returned to power last year — as well as Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COLOMBO India secured defence and energy deals with neighbouring Sri Lanka on Saturday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s visit, seen as a move to counter rival China\u2019s growing influence in the region. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake rolled out the red carpet for Modi and conferred on him the country\u2019s highest civilian honour for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-470802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n