Despite deep ties, India’s relations with Sri Lanka have seen strains due to China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka through investments and economic dominance. Analyse.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 2,500 years + free trade agreement since 2000 → thesis: strain traces to the space Indian delay left open, not to Chinese money
Route 2 open on China’s three doors → ask what opened them → same thesis
debt → Hambantota port → investment → Colombo Port City → trade → top import partner without any trade agreement → Pant: regional dominance that also pushes out other powers → Bajpai: “disinterested neighbour” against “big brother India” → India’s own delivery deficit → Hambantota and Trincomalee offered to Delhi first → recovery since 2022 → nearly $4 billion crisis support → 2025 defence agreement + Trincomalee energy hub → Cyclone Ditwah relief → Mazagon Dock in Colombo Dockyard → gap narrowed
Colombo reads it as balance, not choice → Hambantota’s ninety-nine-year lease stays with China
Route 1 Raja Mohan: crisis support built goodwill and an opening to reframe ties
Route 2 strain real but not terminal → contest now turns on delivery, not sentiment
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
Also asked on this head
India and South Asia — 21 questions in the Vault.
- Discuss the future of SAARC in the light of India’s increased focus on other regional groupings like ASEAN and BIMSTEC.
- Discuss the significance of “West Asia Quad” in the light of India’s “Look West’ policy.
- Why do ethnic conflicts and insurgencies continue to remain major impediments to regional co-operation in South Asia?
How this is taught
The same flow snapshot, built for every head of the syllabus, with the answer written in class.
The first session of Foundation 2027 is published in full.
Six programmes across three levels.