India has often reiterated to its neighbors [friendly] that New Delhi would help them in hard times. It is not surprising then that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar did not hesitate in stating that India would “stand by Sri Lanka at this very difficult time” and “see what we could do within our resources, capabilities and efforts”. Significantly, the statement should be seen through the prism of India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy which constitutes multiple and multifaceted cooperative initiatives that transcend politico-diplomatic differences, domestic politics, trade competiveness, including international pressures over issues such as democracy, human rights, etc.

Maritime-naval cooperation is an important vertical in India-Sri Lanka bilateral relations and New Delhi has provided military equipment, primarily defensive hardware, to the Sri Lankan armed forces. During the seventh iteration of the India-Sri Lanka annual defence dialogue, “the highest institutionalised interactive mechanism between both the countries”, held earlier this year in March, it was agreed to raise the “complexity of bilateral exercises,". It is important to recall that both militaries have conducted joint operations in the past particularly to fight against the LTTE, a separatist group that had attempted to challenge the sovereignty of the island country.

India-Sri Lanka maritime-naval cooperation also envisages participation in multilateral (IORA or the Indian Ocean Rim Association) and sub-regional cooperative initiatives such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) involving the littoral countries of the Bay of Bengal, and the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) grouping comprising India, Maldives and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Mauritius, and Seychelles as observers. The grouping has conducted joint exercises ‘Dosti’ on several occasions. In 2022, during the CSC, it was agreed to set up joint working groups and agencies to “collect, store and disseminate intelligence on common developments as an effective way to tackle the various threats”.

The latter gains salience particularly in the context of the maritime domain in which multiple non tradition security threats and challenges impact on not only national security but also economic prosperity and social wellbeing of the people including livelihoods. It is not surprising that India supplied offshore patrol vessels, naval helicopters and now islander aircraft that are particularly significant for maritime domain awareness to respond to asymmetric threats and challenges faced by the island nation. The Indian government has now committed to supply a Dornier aircraft, a floating dock and help set up a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre which would ensure capacity building of Sri Lanka Armed Forces particularly the Navy. These initiatives are noteworthy in building mutual trust and can be the catalyst for enhanced cooperation.

The Sri Lankan government has put Blue Economy high on its national agenda and has emphasised on Marine Spatial Planning (MSP); however it is constrained due to a number of issues that span policy-practice-technology-awareness continuum. In particular there are “gaps in awareness, knowledge, institutional coordination, and cross-Sectoral collaboration”. Furthermore, “few coastal districts of Sri Lanka have only land-based spatial planning, with the marine realm almost being neglected”.

These challenges are not unique to Sri Lanka (1,340 kilometers coastline and 517,000 square kilometers of EEZ i.e. eight times the land area); instead many countries, particularly smaller island states, have had to struggle to sustainably harness the potential of the large Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that they claim under the 1982 UNCLOS.  

In the above context, India is well poised to help Sri Lanka in the development of Blue Economy from at least three perspectives. First, by all counts, Sri Lanka’s economy is showing robust signs of recovery after a crippling economic crisis. This can be attributed to the Wickremasinghe government’s proactive initiatives and according to the IMF (April 2023), the Sri Lankan economy will experience “less severe economic contraction of -3.1 percent in 2023 and growth of 1.5 percent in 2024”

Second India had promptly provided the “largest bilateral aid package in its history… through credit lines, loans, and grants”. Given the promising outlook for Sri Lankan economy in the post COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 economic crisis, it is an opportune time for India and Sri Lanka to explore investments in Blue Economy and related goods, services and infrastructure. A beginning has been made and the Adani Group announced US$ $442 million investments in the development of maritime infrastructure (offshore wind farm in in Mannar and Pooneryn in north Sri Lanka) and US$ 700 million in the West Container Terminal in Colombo Port.

Third, is about technology capacity building related to Blue Economy. It is well known that Blue Economy is tech-intensive and Industry 4.0 technologies (Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Bigdata, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), Robots, Drones, digital twinning and Additive Manufacturing (AM)) are critical for MSP, shipping, ports, maritime supply chains, and human-material resource management. The international technology community is looking towards India as one of the top non-US supplier of technology professionals and can support Sri Lanka’s Blue Economy vision.

Finally, development of Blue Economy can be given high priority in India –Sri Lanka bilateral cooperation given that it is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) and is highly dependent on the seas for its economic growth and prosperity. Above all, it help Sri Lanka move out quickly from its economic crisis.

Dr Vijay Sakhuja is Associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi.