Modi wants regular Sri Lanka visits in bid to fend off China
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday proposed regular visits with Sri Lankan leaders as he seeks to rebuild the relationship that has been overshadowed by China's influence.
Although divided by a strait just 50 kilometers (30 miles) wide, Sri Lanka and India kept distance over the past three decades. Their relations have been marred by the failed Indian peacekeeping attempt at the onset of Sri Lanka's civil war and more recently, Beijing's foray into India's neighborhood.
On Friday, Modi became the first Indian leader to visit the country in 28 years, reciprocating the trip last month by Sri Lanka's new president, who made a departure from policies favoring Beijing and toward ethnic reconciliation with his country's Tamil minority.
"I am conscious of the significance of this visit," Modi said in a statement following talks with President Maithripala Sirisena. "This is how it should be between neighbors. We should meet regularly. It helps us understand each other better find solutions to mutual concerns and move our relationship forward."
In 1987, India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived in Sri Lanka to sign a peace accord in an effort to end the Tamil uprising, which was then in its early years. Sri Lankan Tamils have linguistic and family connections with the sizable Tamil population in India.
It was a tumultuous period in relations as India was accused of training and arming the rebels, and then tried to mediate by sending a peacekeeping force, a mission that failed as the Indians were viewed with suspicion by both sides in the civil war.
During his visit, Gandhi narrowly escaped serious injury when a Sri Lankan sailor hit him with his rifle butt during a guard of honor inspection. Four years later, in 1991, the Tamil Tigers assassinated Gandhi during an election rally in southern India.
Since then, India had distanced itself from the Sri Lankan conflict, which China used to get closer to the island nation by supplying weapons and later securing a large presence through developing highways, a port and an airport.
Sri Lanka's new government has recently suspended the Chinese-funded $1.5 billion Colombo Port City project, citing environmental issues and alleged corruption. It was inaugurated in September during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who included Sri Lanka in a new maritime "Silk Road" linking the energy-rich Persian Gulf with China.
Later Friday, Modi was scheduled to address the Parliament and visit the war-scarred Tamil heartland in the north to inaugurate a railway line rebuilt by India.