Indian Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan met leaders of Sri Lankan Tamil political parties from the North and East and representatives of Indian-origin Tamil political parties in Colombo on Sunday, expanding the political outreach of his two-day state visit beyond Sri Lanka’s top office-holders.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Vice President’s official programme, gave regional leaders a platform to record their assessment of India’s humanitarian support over recent months. Tamil party representatives cited New Delhi’s “Neighbourhood First” policy and said Indian assistance had been central to stabilising communities worst affected by Cyclone Ditwah.
Indian Ministry of External Affairs officials said New Delhi will continue to monitor the implementation of its USD 450 million Sri Lanka reconstruction package to ensure the funds reach the grassroots level and support the full recovery of cyclone-affected provinces. The package has a significant Tamil and up-country component, with housing construction, livelihood restoration and infrastructure repair targeted at the North, East and plantation regions.
Distinct from top-level bilaterals
The Tamil political engagement is distinct from the Vice President’s bilateral meetings earlier on Sunday with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. Pre-visit briefings from Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha flagged the meetings with Tamil parties as a scheduled component of the trip.
The outreach comes as India finalises the handover of 145 houses under the third phase of its plantation housing project and prepares to scale construction into a fourth phase of 10,000 additional homes.
Radhakrishnan is expected to travel to Nuwara Eliya on the second day of his visit for a community engagement with Sri Lanka’s 1.5 million Indian-origin Tamils.
