India-Sri Lanka Relations: Is it Time for Reorientation of Policy?

Contents: Foreword. Introduction. 1. White Man’s Burden? : Colonial Impact on Inter-ethnic Relations in Sri Lanka and India-Sri Lanka Relations/N. Manoharan. 2. Abhayagiri Monastery in Anuradhapura as a Seat of Tantric Buddhism and its Connection with Odisha/Umakanta Mishra. 3. Why Cultural Linkages won’t Work as a Tool for Policy-Making in Contemporary Context?/N Sathiya Moorthy. 4. Perspective on India-Sri Lanka Relations of the 1980s/Pratap Heblikar. 5. Indian Federalism and Sri Lanka: A Journalist’s Perspective/T. Ramakrishnan. 6. Buddhist Extremism, Anti-Minorities Violence and Buddhist Monks in Sri Lanka/S. Y. Surendra Kumar. 7. Contemporary Sri Lankan Politics: The Road Ahead/Sripathi Narayanan. 8. Bilateral Trade and Emerging Value Chain between India and Sri Lanka/Kashika Arora and Biswajit Nag. 9. India-Sri Lanka Cooperation in Developing Blue Economy/Adluri Subramanyam Raju. 10. India-Sri Lanka Relations: A Traditional and Non-Traditional Security Perspective/T. C. Karthikheyan. 11. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Relations (2015-2019): Implications/Samatha Mallempati. 12. Present State of Defence Cooperation between India and Sri Lanka: Issues and Challenges/Gulbin Sultana. Index.

The edited volume is an outcome of the national seminar held at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on the theme ‘India-Sri Lanka Relations: Is it Time for Reorientation of Policy’? The edited volume deals with politico, economic and security developments within Sri Lanka in recent years, particularly under the Unity Government of Sri Lanka (2015-2019). The volume also examines India-Sri Lanka relations within the framework of India’s ‘neighbourhood first policy’ and Sri Lanka’s ‘India first policy’. The book while examining bilateral relations in a historical context also looks at the impact of domestic political factors on bilateral relations, trade and investment opportunities and the role of foreign policy within the context of changing geo-politics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The chapters in this edited volume are written from the perspectives of former practioners, scholars and journalists from India, closely following India-Sri Lanka relations.