Q.) What are the challenges in India-Sri Lanka bilateral relations? Suggest a roadmap for deepening the partnership. (UPSC/RAS)

• Sri Lanka is India's closest maritime neighbour, linked by old cultural ties and growing cooperation, seen clearly in India's support during Sri Lanka's 2022 economic crisis. Yet several old and new issues still create friction, and a clear roadmap is needed to make the partnership stronger.

Challenges in India-Sri Lanka Relations

1. Tamil issue and human rights concerns — Post-2009 human rights allegations were raised at the UN; India's vote shifted with its own politics (against Sri Lanka in 2010, in favour in 2012, abstained in 2014 and 2021). The 13th Amendment is still not fully implemented. 
2. Fishermen issue — Indian fishermen using bottom trawlers in Sri Lankan waters damage marine life, leading to frequent arrests and firing by the Sri Lankan navy.
3. Katchatheevu island — Handed to Sri Lanka in 1974 with fishing rights retained for India; Tamil Nadu assembly still passes resolutions to reclaim it.
4. Growing Chinese footprint — China's BRI projects (Hambantota port, Colombo Port City, Colombo-Kandy road) give it strategic reach, seen when its tracking ship Yuan Wang 5 docked at Hambantota during an Indian missile test.
5. Chinese interference in politics — The 2018 replacement of pro-India PM Wickremesinghe by pro-China Rajapaksa showed how fast Colombo's political balance can shift.
6. Fallout of the economic crisis — Civil war legacy, the organic-farming shock, populist tax cuts, Chinese debt, tourism dependence and the Ukraine-war oil price rise triggered the 2022 crisis, leaving India with a nearly $4 billion support bill.
7. Slow economic integration — ETCA talks remain stuck as Sri Lankan professionals fear Indian competition, keeping ties limited mostly to goods trade.
8. Political instability — Frequent government changes in Colombo make long-term, predictable cooperation difficult.
9. Trust deficit from the past — Memories of the IPKF operation and Tamil resentment still colour how sections of Sri Lankan society view India.

Roadmap for Deepening the Partnership

1. Support Sri Lanka's own justice process — Encourage Colombo to complete domestic judicial action and fully implement the 13th Amendment.
2. Permanent solution for fishermen — Use the Joint Working Group and navy hotline, promote multi-day fishing, and phase out bottom trawling as a livelihood issue. 
3. Continued dialogue on Katchatheevu — Keep using existing mechanisms and the Colombo MRCC rather than reopening the boundary question. 
4. Timely delivery of India's projects — Finish the Trincomalee petroleum hub, Kankesanthurai port, Hambantota airport, the Japan-India Colombo Port terminal, and the Jaffna hybrid power project on schedule. 
5. Move from aid to trade and investment — Build on the 2022 currency swap and credit lines to push private investment and joint ventures instead. 
6. Reviving the ETCA — Offer a phased deal with safeguards for Sri Lankan professionals to move beyond goods trade. 
7. Wider security cooperation — Expand counter-terrorism ties, the civil nuclear agreement and maritime coordination further. 
8. Steady, quiet diplomacy — Engage consistently with whichever government is in Colombo while continuing Tamil reconstruction support quietly. 
9. Stronger people-to-people ties — Use the Indian Cultural Centre and shared Buddhist heritage to build public-level goodwill.

• India's Sri Lanka policy shows both the promise and difficulty of its neighbourhood diplomacy. Steady economic support, timely project delivery and quiet, consistent diplomacy can help build a partnership that outlasts any single government in Colombo.