Modi’s visit amidst differences across Palk Strait

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi will reach the island today for a three-day visit, marking his first official visit to the neighbouring state since the change of political power in Colombo last year. During the Premier’s visit, Sri Lanka and India are set to sign the first-ever bilateral defence cooperation agreement apart from signing an MoU for the Indo-Lanka electricity grid connectivity project. 

The landmark initiative aims to link Mannar in Sri Lanka with South India via an undersea cable, facilitating bidirectional electricity trade in addition to enhancing energy security between the two nations. The project has the potential to transform Sri Lanka into an energy hub, paving the way to export excess renewable energy to India and other countries in the region.

The official visit of the Indian leader takes place in the backdrop of Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s Adani Group, announcing its withdrawal last February from the much publicised wind energy project. The project, which was planned to generate 250 MW through the installation of 52 wind turbines in the island’s north, secured an investment pledge of $ 442 million from the Adani Group. Last May, the Cabinet approval was granted to pay 8.26 cents per unit for the wind energy venture in Mannar, and the determined tariff rate attracted controversy as well as speculation. 

President Anura Kumara Disanayake while campaigning for presidency last year claimed that the quoted and agreed upon price of $ 0.0826/kWh was too high. However, industry experts opine the tariff quoted has been determined by multiple factors such as the capital cost, cost of raising funds, tenure of the power purchase agreement, and operational and maintenance costs. The termination of the project would affect the stated objective of achieving 70% of Sri Lanka’s energy generation from renewable sources by 2030.

The billionaire Gautam Adani has been close to the Indian Premier for more than two decades. During Modi’s first year into premiership, the market value of the Adani Group rose by approximately $ 5.7 billion. When Modi was to be first sworn in as India’s Prime Minister after sweeping the 2014 general election, the private aircraft he travelled by to New Delhi prominently displayed the logo of the businessman’s multinational conglomerate. The administration’s antagonistic stance with regard to the tariff rate of the politically connected Indian conglomerate’s project in Mannar could strain the ties of the two neighbours and could adversely impact the economic and political interests of the country.

Another contentious issue which affects Indo-Lanka relations is the poaching by Tamil Nadu fishermen in the Lankan seawaters. Last month, the politically sensitive matter came into prominence when Minister of Transportation Bimal Rathnayake urged New Delhi and Tamil Nadu to take action to prevent Indian fishermen from poaching in Sri Lankan waters while pointing out that such unauthorised fishing by Indian trawlers was having a devastating impact on the livelihoods of northern fishermen in the island. 

Rathnayake had further remarked that there was a serious question whether much of the assistance given by India to its southern neighbour is genuine in the light of the Indian Union Government’s reluctance to take decisive action to stop unauthorised fishing by fishermen from Tamil Nadu. There have been accusations that politicians/political parties in Tamil Nadu encourage fishermen to encroach into the island’s northern seas with the intention of creating rifts between the two states. The bottom trawling method of fishing used by Tamil Nadu fishermen is extremely harmful to marine habitats on the ocean floor, creating serious conservation issues. 

Days before Modi’s visit, The Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to take steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island from Sri Lanka. The resolution had addressed the challenges faced by Tamil Nadu’s fishermen due to ongoing arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy.

Given the recent developments across the Palk Strait, the Indian Premier’s Lankan visit would be of significant importance within the realm of Indo-Lanka ties.