Visit of External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Tamil Issue in Sri Lanka?
• What is the 13th amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka?
• How much economic help India provided to support the recovery of Sri Lanka?
• News Summary: Visit of External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka
• Key highlights of the visit of External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka

 

Why in news?

• External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S Jaishankar paid an official visit to Sri Lanka. 
• The visit is testimony to the importance that India attaches to its close and friendly relations with Sri Lanka.

 

What is Tamil Issue in Sri Lanka?

• Communal tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities had been brewing since the early 1940s.
• The nearly three-decade long armed conflict between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE came to an end in May 2009.
• Since then, Indian govt is persuading Sri Lankan govt for greater devolution of power to Tamils.
• The need for national reconciliation through a political settlement of the ethnic issue has been reiterated by India at the highest levels.

 

What is the 13^th amendment of the Constitution of Sri Lanka?

• The Sri Lankan Parliament passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the constitution in November 1987 with the objective of creating provincial councils based on the provisions of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of July 1987. 
• The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides for: 
  • The establishment of Provincial Councils 
  • The appointment and powers of the Governor of Provinces 
  • Membership and tenure of Provincial Councils  
  • The legislative powers of the Provincial Councils 
  • Tamil as an official language and English as a link language 

• Elections to the three provinces – Northern, Central and North Western Provinces held.
• However, the terms of Sri Lanka’s nine provincial councils expired about three years ago, and they have remained defunct since.  

 

How much economic help did India provide to support the recovery of Sri Lanka?

• Sri Lanka is facing the double whammy of rising prices and high debt.
• India had offered a helping hand to Sri Lanka in order to support its recovery. The help extended by India includes:
  • In December 2021, India and Sri Lanka agreed to a four-pronged approach to help mitigate Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.
    • This agreement included - Urgent food and health security package; Addressing the balance of payment issues; Energy security package; Growth and employment generation.
  • In March 2022, India announced a $ 1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka. Earlier, in February 2022, India had extended a $ 500 million line of credit to Sri Lanka to help it purchase petroleum products.
  • Besides the above economic packages, India also made investment to help Sri Lanka repair its economy. These included:
    • India’s NTPC signed an agreement for setting up a solar plant in Sampur in the eastern province of Trincomalee, 
    • The Adani group has signed up for another wind/ solar project in the Mannar and Ponneryn areas of northern Sri Lanka,
    • Indian Oil subsidiary Lanka India Oil Corporation and Ceylong Petroleum have signed an agreement to jointly develop the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm. 
    • Delhi is also pushing for joint development of the Palaly airport and Kankesanthurai harbour in the northern Jaffna peninsula.
  • In November 2021, India had given 100 tonnes of nano nitrogen liquid fertilizers to Sri Lanka.
  • Earlier, RBI has extended a currency swap of $400 million and deferred payments owed by the central bank of Sri Lanka worth several hundred million dollars.

 

News Summary: Visit of External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka

• In order to further strengthen the ties with Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar paid an official visit to the Island country.

 

Key highlights of the visit of External Affairs Minister to Sri Lanka

•  EAM highlighted India’s support for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery
  • EAM said that India did not wait for other bilateral creditors but did what is right for Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.
    • Sri Lanka had secured a bailout package of $2.9 billion from IMF.
    • However, this package will be cleared only after Sri Lanka’s official creditors — China, Japan and India — have provided adequate financing assurances.
    • On January 16, India sent written financing assurances to the IMF, becoming the first bilateral creditor of the island nation to officially support its crucial debt restructure programme.
• In 2022, India extended about US $ 4 billion in terms of credits and roll overs to help Sri Lanka get through an economic crisis.
• India will encourage greater investments in the Sri Lankan economy, especially in the core areas like energy, tourism and infrastructure.

 

Full implementation of the 13th Amendment

• EAM said that India considers the full implementation of the 13th Amendment in Sri Lanka as critical for achieving reconciliation with the minority Tamil community.
• He also said that early conduct of provincial elections is critical for both the political and economic stability of the debt-ridden island nation.

 

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Q1) Which Sea channel separates India and Sri Lanka?

 Sri Lanka is separated from India by a narrow channel of sea, formed by Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar.

 

Q2) Which channel separates Lakshadweep and Andaman?

 10-degree Channel separates the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. 9-degree Channel separates the island of Minicoy from the main Lakshadweep archipelago.

 

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Source: Devolution of power key to Tamil reconciliation: Jaishankar in Sri Lanka | MEA | The Hindu