Lanka vows closer ties with Chinese Communist Party
Sri Lanka’s government pledged closer ties with Communist parties in China and India, two regional powers competing to influence the strategically important nation.
The government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held its first May Day rally with special guests from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Communist parties in India.
CCP official Peng Xiubin told the mass rally in Colombo that his party had been working closely with Dissanayake’s JVP, or People’s Liberation Front.
“We will make China-Sri Lanka relations even stronger,” the Chinese official said.
JVP General Secretary Tilvin Silva said he hoped cooperation with China would help address rural poverty.
“China has done tremendous work in this area, and we want their expertise,” Silva said.
A.R. Sindhu, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which governs India’s southern Kerala state, said they drew inspiration from the JVP’s rapid rise to power.
“We proudly tell the people that, yes, Kerala will follow the Sri Lankan way. Not only Kerala — the entire India will be following the Sri Lankan way,” Sindhu said.
The JVP, which held just three seats in the previous parliament, won 159 — just over two-thirds — in the 225-member assembly at the November elections.
With the leftist Dissanayake in office, New Delhi has been concerned about Beijing’s growing influence in Sri Lanka, which India considers to be within its geopolitical influence.
Sri Lanka lies just south of India and is halfway along the east-west international shipping lane, making it a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.
Dissanayake has been trying to balance relations with the two regional superpowers.
His first overseas visit was to India after coming to power following the September presidential election.
He then travelled to China.
Beijing was the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka after the country declared a sovereign default in April 2022, following an acute shortage of foreign exchange that triggered an unprecedented economic meltdown.
India extended credit lines to help salvage the Sri Lankan economy after it declared bankruptcy three years ago.