Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Mahishini Colonne, addressed the 66th Course of India’s National Defence College (NDC) on Tuesday, outlining the current state, challenges and future direction of India-Sri Lanka relations.
Colonne delivered the address, titled “India-Sri Lanka Bilateral Relations: Determinants, Status, Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward,” to 122 senior officers from India and 41 officers from foreign countries, including Sri Lanka.
Her address covered the bilateral relationship in the areas of history, sovereignty, security, trade and investment, connectivity, energy, defence, maritime cooperation and people-to-people ties.
Highlighting recent high-level exchanges, Colonne referred to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to India in December 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025 and the first bilateral visit to Sri Lanka by an Indian vice president in April this year.
She also noted India’s assistance during Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis and its role as the first bilateral creditor to provide financing assurances for the country’s International Monetary Fund programme.
Addressing security ties, Colonne reiterated Sri Lanka’s assurance that its territory would not be used in a manner that threatens India’s security interests, while stressing the importance of protecting Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and strategic autonomy.
She described the relationship as “a partnership between unequal states, but not between unequal interests,” noting that both countries share interests in maintaining peace, security, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean.
Colonne identified six priorities for strengthening bilateral ties: building mutual trust, promoting shared prosperity, accelerating connectivity, developing an integrated maritime security partnership, investing in people and expanding cooperation in the wider Indian Ocean region.
The address was followed by a question-and-answer session. Colonne also met a delegation of NDC officers scheduled to visit Sri Lanka from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 as part of a study tour.
Established in 1960, the National Defence College is India’s apex institution for the study of national security and strategy. (Newswire)