After 38 years, an Indian defense minister set foot on the soil of Sri Lanka. Rajnath Singh arrived in Colombo on Tuesday on a three-day visit. The last time the then Defense Minister KC Pant visited Sri Lanka was in 1988. Since then no defense minister has visited the island nation. After passing the bloody past of LTTE, Rajnath set foot in Colombo. According to some analysts, China is worried about his visit.
Sri Lankan Deputy Defense Minister Major General (retired) Aruna Jayasekara and Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha welcomed Rajnath at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Tuesday. Before the start of the visit, the Indian Defense Minister said that he will meet with the high-ranking officials of the Sri Lankan government during this visit. Said, “Sri Lanka is one of India's most important partner countries under the maritime strategic and regional cooperation initiative called Neighborhood First and Oceans, along with a long-standing partnership and deep historical and civilizational ties.”
However, analysts say, Rajnath's visit is not only to improve bilateral relations or defense cooperation. Rather, it involves Sri Lanka's long and bloody history of civil war and the strategic equation of the Indian Ocean. In the 1980s, Sri Lanka was devastated by the 'Tamil Tigers' or LTTE. India is also involved in this alarming security situation of the island nation. After the historic agreement between India and Sri Lanka in 1987, Indian peacekeeping forces were deployed in Sri Lanka. Because of this, Delhi got into direct conflict with the LTTE. Indian forces finally left Sri Lanka in 1990. As a result, the visit of an Indian defense minister to Colombo after almost four decades is also being seen as a new chapter in the long and complicated history of defense relations between the two countries.
On the other hand, China's expansion has been going on in the Indian Ocean for a long time. Beijing is expanding its influence in Sri Lanka. Hambantota port of the island nation is coming forward in this situation. China has leased this important port on the southern coast of Sri Lanka for 99 years. Hence, Delhi is eyeing Hambantota in view of the increasing presence of 'Dragon' in the Indian Ocean. In this situation, analysts believe that Rajnath's visit to Sri Lanka after 38 years as India's defense minister has actually sent a big message to China.
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