When presidents are elected in Sri Lanka, their first official foreign visit is traditionally to India. In 1994, after winning the presidential election, Chandrika’s first visit was to India. When Mahinda became president in 2005, his first trip was to India as well. In 2015, Maithripala also chose India for his first visit. Even in 2019, when Gotabaya was elected, his first foreign visit was to India. In 2022, after being elected by parliament, Ranil travelled to India a year later due to not having received an invitation earlier from India.
It is customary for leaders of South Asian countries to make India their first foreign visit after assuming power. However, this tradition was broken by the Maldivian president, who didn’t have close ties with India, and more recently by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Those who follow South Asian relations are now watching to see whether Sri Lanka’s newly elected president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, will follow suit or break with tradition. Before becoming president, Anura Kumara received his first foreign visit invitation from China. Although he visited China in December 2023, the trip did not receive much publicity. He later travelled to India at the invitation of the Indian government.
Now, Anura Kumara faces a difficult decision: should he prioritize a visit to India or China? While caught in this dilemma, India’s Foreign Minister is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka this week. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president in 2019, India’s Foreign Minister visited Sri Lanka and personally invited Gotabaya to make India his first foreign visit, which he accepted. Gotabaya later postponed an invitation from China, citing COVID-19 as the reason.
This week, it is expected that the Indian Foreign Minister will extend a similar invitation to Anura Kumara to visit India when he visits Sri Lanka. Previously, when former President Ranil visited India, he had invited the Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka. Although the Indian Prime Minister accepted the invitation, he did not make the trip due to the upcoming Sri Lankan presidential election. It remains uncertain whether Anura will renew this invitation.
The Indian Foreign Minister’s visit to Sri Lanka comes at a time when Anura had declared on September 16, 2024, during his presidential campaign, that he would cancel the Adani projects. After observing Anura Kumara’s first week in office, I noticed that he is inclined to avoid making major changes to the system. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has stated that since this is an interim cabinet, the administration will refrain from actions that could disrupt the state machinery. It appears that Anura’s government will delay clarifying its foreign policy until after the general election, and his first foreign visit will likely occur following the election.
