Sri Lanka’s Basil Rajapaksa arrives in New Delhi; To meet top Indian ministers

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s brother Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday. Basil Rajapaksa was inducted into the Sri Lankan cabinet in July this year.

It is Basil Rajapaksa’s first official foreign visit, in what was described as an “unprecedented” economic crisis in Sri Lanka, characterized by a falling rupee, rising living costs, and a growing fear of food shortages next year.

According to news reports from Sri Lanka, Basil Rajapaksa may seek significant economic aid from India in the form of investments and increased tourist exchanges.

In New Delhi, Tulsi Rajapaksa will meet Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Since last year, the Sri Lankan government has made at least one request for a currency swap worth $1.1 billion. New Delhi has not yet clarified whether it will accept Sri Lanka’s request.

Relations between India and Sri Lanka were strained after India and Sri Lanka scrapped a trilateral agreement with India and Japan to jointly develop the Colombo Port terminal earlier this year. The move was seen as being under pressure from China, India’s main strategic and economic rival, which has been infiltrating the Indian Ocean region to counter New Delhi’s influence. On its part, Colombo offered another project at the neighboring terminal, with India’s Adani Group signing up as the main private investor.

Strained relations were brought to a similar standstill after Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s visit in early October. This was followed by a visit by Indian Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane and some Indian naval ships – in a sign that relations were beginning to settle down.

Ahead of Basil Rajapaksa’s visit, Sri Lankan High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda met Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday and “explored ways to further enhance defense and security cooperation with India,” an official statement said.