India invites JVP leaders for talks for first time
In what is seen as a significant shift in India’s foreign policy towards Sri Lanka, the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) leader has been invited to New Delhi for talks.
A group led by National People’s Shakti and People’s Liberation Front leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and India’s External Affairs Minister Kalanithi S. Has met and held talks with Jaishankar.
Kalanithi Jaishankar, who has posted about this on the social website X, said that he is happy to meet Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
“There was a good conversation about our bilateral relationship and its further deepening mutual benefits. We also talked about Sri Lanka’s economic challenges and ways forward”.
However, it is not clear whether the Indian side discussed power-sharing with the Tamils with the JVP representatives as stipulated in the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution brought in as a result of the Indo-Sri Lankan accord. The JVP opposed the amendment from the beginning and criticized it as “Indian expansion”.
The People’s Liberation Front has continued to oppose the pro-India amendment, most notably in February 2023, when its former member of Parliament, Sunil Handhunnethi, said in an interview with a newspaper that his party had always disagreed with the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.
Representatives of the People’s Liberation Front, who are on a five-day visit to India, will meet political and business leaders.
A local website reported that Shantha Jayaratne, a member of the policy campaign committee of the People’s Liberation Front, said that it was a good diplomatic move that India invited his party like never before.
“This unprecedented move not only strengthens bilateral ties, but also underscores the growing international influence and centrist vision of the National People’s Power, especially how we are balancing relations between two economic powerhouses, China and India.”
Anurav’s visit to India comes at a crucial time ahead of the upcoming elections in Sri Lanka.
“This visit not only strengthens economic ties but also sends a clear signal to Sri Lanka’s political landscape that India recognizes national people power as an important force in shaping the nation’s future”.
As Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s popularity has increased since the Aragalaya protests that led to the resignation of war-accused former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, political observers say India has called for national people’s power.
While Anura is said to be contesting the next presidential election, opinion polls suggest that she has a high chance of winning. The polls showed him ahead of incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe and main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.
Reports say that the National People’s Power delegation to India will travel to Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala, a southern Indian state ruled by the Left.
In an interview with the Indian newspaper ‘The Hindu’ last December, Anura Kumara said, “We know that India, our closest neighbour, has become an important political and economic hub. So, when we take economic and political decisions, we are always concerned about how it will affect India,” he said
Anura Kumara Dissanayake is accompanied by National People’s Shakti Secretary Nihal Jayasinghe, Member of Parliament Vijitha Herath and Economist Professor Anil Jayantha on this visit to India.