During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, J.R.’s government took advantage of it. J.R.’s government chose the American side. India chose the Soviet side. This was the cause of the relations between Sri Lanka and India to deteriorate.
The war in the North was a result of that. Finally, J.R. yielded to Indian influence and agreed to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement. Before that, J.R. had asked for help from the United States, the side he had chosen during the Cold War. That was against a fear of an Indian invasion. But the United States did not agree to help Sri Lanka against India.
Subsequently, the Rajiv Gandhi government, which came to power after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, was trying to renew relations with the United States. The United States did not want Sri Lanka to be a hindrance to it. After signing the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement, J.R.’s government requested to purchase helicopter spare parts from the United States. The United States informed J.R.’s government that India’s approval was needed to sell helicopter spare parts to Sri Lanka.
J.R. was disappointed with the American response. The US view was that J.R.’s government had signed the Indo-Lanka agreement and therefore needed India’s approval. J.R., who had sought to benefit from the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union, met with an unfortunate plight.
Mahinda, who came to power in 2005, opened the doors of Sri Lanka to Chinese projects and sought to capitalise on the conflict between China, the US, and especially India. Maithripala, Gotabaya and Ranil, who came to power after Mahinda, including the current President Anura tried to increase their bargaining power through the India-US conflict against China.
Ranil managed this conflict more skillfully to Sri Lanka’s benefit than Mahinda, Maithri, Gotabaya and Anura. After Trump imposed tariffs on India, India and China are trying to forget the old disputes and trying to establish new relations. The Chinese Foreign Minister is currently in India. The Indian Prime Minister is scheduled to leave for a visit to China. The supporters of Anura’s government believe that by joining these two countries, Chinese projects in Sri Lanka will be able to be carried out without hindrance. However, if these two countries join, Sri Lanka’s bidding power will be abolished. If the two countries agree to join and China agrees not to challenge Indian dominance in South Asia, there is a high chance that Sri Lanka will lose its geopolitical bargaining power.
