Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has assured India that his country will never allow its territory to be used for activities that threaten India’s security interests. The assurance came during a meeting with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Colombo, held as part of Singh’s three-day official visit to strengthen defence and maritime cooperation between the two nations.
What was said
According to India’s Ministry of Defence, Dissanayake told Singh that Sri Lanka “would never allow its territory to be used for activities inimical to India’s security interests.” The remark is consistent with commitments Dissanayake has made repeatedly since taking office in September 2024 — including during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Colombo in October 2024, and during his own first foreign visit as president, to New Delhi in December 2024, when he gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a similar assurance.
Rajnath Singh, for his part, described the relationship in warm terms, calling India and Sri Lanka “civilised twins, close neighbours, and maritime partners,” and said both sides had reaffirmed their resolve to work together for the security, safety, peace, and prosperity of the region.
Three defence agreements signed
Beyond the assurance, the visit produced concrete deliverables. India and Sri Lanka signed three defence Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) on Wednesday:
- Upgrade of L70 air-defence guns — India will fund and carry out the modernisation of six L70 air-defence guns operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force. The guns were originally supplied by India, and the upgrade is intended to strengthen protection for key installations in Sri Lanka.
- National Cadet Corps (NCC) cooperation — an agreement to build cooperation between the two countries’ cadet training programmes.
- National Defence College (NDC) cooperation — a linkage between the premier defence training institutions of both nations.
The Indian Ministry of Defence said the two leaders held “substantive discussions” spanning the full range of the bilateral partnership, which it described as marked by traditionally warm relations and mutual trust.
Humanitarian and infrastructure notes
The meeting wasn’t limited to defence matters. Dissanayake thanked India for its assistance under Operation Sagar Bandhu, New Delhi’s relief effort following Cyclone Ditwah, as well as India’s broader rehabilitation package supporting reconstruction across the island. The two leaders also virtually inaugurated three Bailey bridges built by India’s defence forces in Sri Lanka.
Separately during the visit, Singh addressed the Indian community in Sri Lanka, highlighting India’s economic growth story under the Modi government — pointing to free trade agreements concluded with 38 countries, compared to four under the previous UPA government.
The China angle
While neither side named China directly, the assurance is widely read against the backdrop of Beijing’s expanding presence in Sri Lanka — from port investments to loans that have fuelled recurring anxiety in New Delhi. The most-cited example remains Hambantota Port, handed over to Chinese control on a 99-year lease in 2017 after Colombo was unable to service related debt, along with roughly 15,000 acres of surrounding land.
Sri Lanka’s strategic position astride key Indian Ocean shipping lanes makes such assurances significant for India, which has consistently sought to ensure its smaller neighbour doesn’t become a staging ground — militarily or otherwise — for rival powers.
Bigger picture
This is being described in Indian reporting as Rajnath Singh’s first visit to Sri Lanka in 38 years for an Indian defence minister, underscoring how significant Delhi considers the current push to institutionalise defence ties with Colombo. Singh’s visit and Dissanayake’s renewed assurance fit into a broader pattern of India using high-level defence diplomacy — including similar recent outreach to the Maldives — to shore up its position in the neighbourhood even as China continues to court South Asian island nations with infrastructure financing and closer ties.
