India's foreign minister seeks to boost ties in visits to Sri Lanka and Maldives

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has gone on a trip to the Maldives and Sri Lanka aimed at reinforcing ties with the two island states and highlighting, particularly in Colombo, that New Delhi is a friend that can be counted upon in time of need, according to Indian analysts.

Dr Jaishankar, who arrived in Colombo yesterday for a two-day visit, has met top Sri Lankan leaders including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who, in a tweet, thanked New Delhi for its "invaluable assistance" amid the ongoing economic crisis on the island. The Indian minister also met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President's brother.

India has extended US$2.5 billion (S$3.4 billion) in assistance, including currency swap and credit lines, to Sri Lanka which is deep in debt and lacking foreign exchange to pay for imports of even essential items from food to oil.

In a tweet yesterday, Dr Jaishankar expressed concern after Sri Lanka's Peradeniya Hospital announced the suspension of all routine operations on account of a shortage of medicine.

"Disturbed to see this news," he tweeted, adding that he was asking the Indian envoy to get in touch with the hospital to discuss how New Delhi could help. He also visited a petrol pump run by Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation and one of the biggest fuel suppliers in Sri Lanka. Dr Jaishankar said he was briefed on the fuel situation on the island by Lanka IOC managing director Manoj Gupta.

During Dr Jaishankar's visit, India and Sri Lanka have signed six agreements which included the setting up of a hybrid solar and wind project in three islands off Jaffna on the northern tip of the country. Late last year, Colombo cancelled a similar project awarded to China following Indian opposition on security grounds that it was too close to India's Tamil Nadu state.

"We are trying to say in times of distress, we are there as a well-meaning neighbour," said Dr Ashok K. Behuria, senior fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

He noted that the neighbourhood outreach is also a very important part of India's Sagar, or Security and Growth for All in the Region, and policy of "Neighbourhood First".

India has ramped up its outreach to Indian Ocean countries in recent years amid the growing influence of China, which has made heavy investments in South Asia. The Indian Ocean is an area that India has traditionally considered as part of its backyard.

Ties with Sri Lanka as well as the Maldives have gone through some ups and downs.

But relations between New Delhi and the Rajapaksas, who during an earlier stint in power tilted towards Beijing, have improved.

"Sri Lanka has taken the middle path between India and China for economic development. India's role (during the current crisis) is definitely noticeable and is being noticed within and outside the country. India is playing more than a stabilising role, even supplying oil despite the existing global situation," said Mr N. Sathiya Moorthy, head of the Chennai chapter of the Observer Research Foundation.

In the Maldives, a change in government has led to improved relations.

The previous Maldivian president, Mr Abdulla Yameen, was seen to have cultivated ties with China at the cost of relations with India. But the present government headed by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who came to power in an election in 2018, has restored stability to the relationship with New Delhi as well as the Maldives' India First policy.

Dr Jaishankar, who was in the Maldives for a two-day visit on Monday and yesterday, met his counterpart Abdulla Shahid and they discussed a wide range of issues from tourism to regional and maritime security.

The Indian minister inaugurated the National College of Policing and Law Enforcement and also formally handed over a coastal radar system with 10 radar stations which were built with a US$15.8 million Indian grant.

Analysts said that India is trying to broaden its relationship with the Maldives by collaborating in different areas including eco-tourism.