India presses Colombo on provincial polls, but Dissanayakes office stays silent

Indias Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has urged Sri Lanka to hold its long-delayed provincial council elections "at the earliest" and to fully implement the islands constitutional provisions to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people, though the Sri Lankan presidents office omitted any mention of Tamils from its own account of the talks.

The call came during Misris day-long visit to Colombo on 5 August, his first stand-alone trip to the island as foreign secretary, during which he met the Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and Foreign Secretary Aruni Ranaraja, as well as the Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa. He held separate meetings with leaders of the Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian Origin Tamil communities.

A telling omission

Indias Ministry of External Affairs said Misri had called on the Sri Lankan leadership to implement their commitment to hold provincial council elections and to fully implement the constitutional provisions of Sri Lanka to meet the aspirations of the Tamil people.

The account issued by the Presidents Media Division records no such exchange. Running to several hundred words, it details Dissanayakes appreciation for Indian assistance during the economic crisis of 2022 and 2023, humanitarian support during the Ditwah disaster, help with infrastructure reconstruction and with meeting the islands energy requirements during the crisis in the Middle East. It records a review of ongoing and proposed development projects, the president seeking Indias fullest cooperation in combating drug trafficking, the importance of regional cooperation on climate change, discussions on technology, energy and trade, and the full list of officials present.

Provincial elections, devolution, the constitution and Tamils appear nowhere in it. The difference between the two governments messaging was noted by The Hindu, which reported an apparent divergence in the two sides priorities.

The terms of Sri Lankas nine provincial councils expired between 2017 and 2019, and successive governments have delayed holding elections since. The National Peoples Power promised during its 2024 election campaign to hold the polls within a year of taking office, but has since said it is prioritising the revival of the economy, prompting concern over the delay in meeting its other political pledges.

No final agreement was reached

Indias intervention followed a meeting two days earlier at which representatives of the six Tamil and Muslim parties that recently formed a common platform put the same demands directly to Dissanayake, and came away without commitments.

Setting out an account of the discussions, the Batticaloa MP and platform convenor Shanakiyan Rasamanickam said the meeting had been cordial and constructive, but that "no final agreement was reached on the key issues raised".

The parties raised unresolved land disputes in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, privately owned land still under military occupation, and the difficulties caused by the actions of the Mahaweli Authority, the Forest Department, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Department of Archaeology. "We stressed that these are not merely administrative matters but fundamental issues affecting the livelihoods, identity, and basic rights of our people," Rasamanickam said.

On the provincial elections, the parties told the president that further delay was unacceptable. Rasamanickam said he had specifically asked Dissanayake to direct the relevant commission to submit its report before the scheduled date, rather than waiting until the originally proposed deadline, so that the electoral process could proceed without unnecessary delay, adding that postponing the polls on the grounds of awaiting the committees report was unacceptable and that urgent action was required to restore the democratic rights of the people.

The parties also pressed on the proposed new constitution, reiterating that any reform must guarantee the political rights of the Tamil people, meaningful power-sharing and genuine equality. While the president said work towards a new constitution would proceed, Rasamanickam said, "no clear commitment was given regarding the timeline or the process".

The discussions also covered the land rights, housing and socio-economic development of the Hill Country Tamil community, and the need to accelerate the resettlement of war-affected families, housing programmes, the release of occupied land and the provision of essential infrastructure and public services.

"Our expectation is that these discussions will lead to concrete action rather than remain as dialogue alone," Rasamanickam said. "We will continue to advocate democratically for the rights of Tamil-speaking people until those rights are fully protected and respected."

Separately, the Tamil National Council appealed to New Delhi during the visit to support a federal constitution recognising Tamil sovereignty and self-determination, rather than the unitary framework the government is drafting.

Projects across the North-East

Much of the visit was given over to Indias expanding development footprint. The two sides welcomed agreements on rupee-denominated lines of credit worth 250 million US dollars for railway projects and 100 million for livestock and other priority requirements, exchanged in Dissanayakes presence and forming part of the 450 million dollar reconstruction package announced after Cyclone Ditwah. Reconstruction of damaged houses and permanent bridges under a further 100 million dollar grant is to begin shortly.

Several projects fall within the Tamil homeland. The two sides agreed to begin discussions at the earliest on an agreement covering the rehabilitation and modernisation of Kankesanthurai harbour in Jaffna, to be implemented under a grant of 61.5 million dollars, and discussed expediting energy projects including the electricity grid interconnection, the Sampur solar power project and the development of Trincomalee as an energy hub. Work on rehabilitating the Northern Railway corridor under a 5 million dollar grant has been completed and train services have resumed.

Misri also urged Colombo to expedite projects for the Indian Origin Tamil community, including the construction of all 10,000 houses announced during Narendra Modis visit in 2017, nearly a decade ago and still unfinished.

On economic matters, the two sides welcomed the decision to take forward negotiations on updating the free trade agreement and the conclusion of negotiations on a social security agreement, expected to be signed once internal procedures are complete. Misri also welcomed Dissanayakes assurance, contained in the joint statement of December 2024, that Sri Lankan territory would not be permitted to be used in any manner inimical to Indias security.