Sugeeswara Senadhira

Sugeeswara Senadhira

About Sugeeswara Senadhira

The writer is Director (International Media), Presidential Secretariat, Colombo

More From Sugeeswara Senadhira

A Year of Dissanayake Government: People Keeping Faith Despite Disappointments

It is not easy for a country faced with heavy debt payments to find resources to accelerate domestic growth, exports and infrastructure development. It has to carefully balance infrastructure priorities, social spending, and ongoing economic reforms. Next two years will be crucial for the government  to at least complete the ongoing projects to…

Back-To-Back Visits And Differential Access: Sri Lanka’s Clever Foreign Policy Balancing Between India And China

Some analysts are of the view that Sri Lanka’s differential access — full executive level for India versus foreign ministry level for China — may reflect Sri Lanka’s carefully calibrated foreign policy. Sri Lanka is leveraging India for urgent, high-impact assistance and wider policy coordination and engaging China for strategic…

AI For Early Warning On Climate Disasters In South Asia

Through vulnerability analytics, AI can highlight populations more likely to struggle with recovery, including plantation communities, low-income families, and settlements located on flood plains. India has already allocated a US$450 million fund for Sri Lanka’s post-cyclone recovery. The joint committee established by India and Sri Lanka to…

Whither SAARC, As Cyclone-Devastated Sri Lanka Seeks South Asian Climate Compact

However. the desire to collaborate regionally has faced many hurdles such as geopolitical tensions arising from the India–Pakistan rivalry and limited SAARC summit activity that has greatly weakened implementation of regional initiatives. The Rapid Response Mechanism remains largely on paper, with no standing regional force or pre-positioned…

Sri Lanka’s Delicate Tightrope Walk Between Asian Powers

The island-nation’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean has placed it at the centre of intensifying geopolitical competition and rivalry between China and India. Sri Lanka’s experience in balancing its own priorities and needs with the competing interests and concerns of India and China through the lens of project financing has largely…

Sri Lanka gets two-year respite at UNHRC; Colombo calls resolution intrusive, damaging to South Asia

A revised version presented on 1 October reflects the Western double standards and the continuous desire of the UNHRC to bend over backwards to please the West. The most shocking aspect is that the recommendations in the report were made without consultation with the Government of Sri Lanka. 

The India-Pakistan Conflict and Its Impact on Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka often finds itself navigating a diplomatic tightrope. While it shares strong cultural, economic, and historical ties with India, it also engages with Pakistan through trade, defense training, and political goodwill. The India-Pakistan rivalry sometimes limits Sri Lanka’s foreign policy options and restricts deeper ties with one…

Modi visit to Sri Lanka: Religious diplomacy to boost ties

Most analysts believe that India changed Modi’s programme to appease the majority Buddhist community, which will be happy to see the Indian leader pay homage to Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura rather than visit the Tamil minority in Sampur in the east.

Modi to visit Sri Lanka in April with investment and security issues in mind

One of the concerns of India has been the expanding Chinese presence in Sri Lanka. The China-funded mega projects like Hambantota Port and Colombo Port City have caused some discord in the India-Sri Lanka relations. Growing Chinese presence in South Asian nations - Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka - has been a cause of major security…

Sri Lanka propitiates China but continues balancing act with India

Sri Lankan missions abroad have been instructed not to attend any official functions of Taiwanese missions that operate as cultural, economic or educational offices or meetings attended by the Dalai Lama. However, until last year, several leading Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka had participated in religious functions and conferences together with…