India’s friendly standing and moral status in Sri Lanka are at the mercy of Hindutva and hypernationalism

This story is part of ‘Modi’s India from the Edges’, a special Himal series presenting Southasian regional perspectives on Narendra Modi’s decade in power and possible return as prime minister in the 2024 Indian election. To read the series and support Himal’s work on it, click here. 

When Indira Gandhi, as the Indian prime minister, visited Sri Lanka in 1973, she marked the advent of an especially warm phase in relations between the two countries. The personal chemistry between Gandhi and Sirima Bandaranaike, her Sri Lankan counterpart – which extended into a rapport between their two families – was an added fillip. The bilateral pact on Katchatheevu, recognising Sri Lankan control over the disputed island in the Palk Strait, was signed in 1974, followed by the agreement extending Sri Lanka’s maritime boundary to Palk Bay in 1976.