- The “Mitra Vibhooshana” award recognises Modi’s consistent support to Sri Lanka, especially during its worst financial and political crisis in 2022–23 when India extended nearly $4 billion in financial aid, including lines of credit, currency swaps, and much more.
- Dissanayake’s move also shows an attempt by the new government to engage in a balanced foreign policy, diverging from reliance on a single external player.
- The very fact that Colombo decided to celebrate its relations with New Delhi in public, even when there was a left-wing government in power, suggests that China’s penetration might not be as profound or irreversible as imagined.
- India’s management of its relationship with Sri Lanka, particularly in its economic crisis and subsequent political change, is a powerful exercise of Kautilyan statecraft—pragmatic, strategic, and grounded in dharmic realism.
In a surprise diplomatic move, Sri Lanka’s ruling party headed by Prime Minister Anura Kumara Dissanayake awarded its highest honor of the prestigious “Mitra Vibhooshana” to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Colombo between April 4–6, 2025. This caught most observers in South Asia and other regions, including China, off guard, expecting more cautious or even strained New Delhi-Colombo ties under left-of-center National People’s Power (NPP) government head Dissanayake. Contrary to such expectations, the ceremonial and symbolic bestowal of Sri Lanka’s highest civilian honour for foreign nationals underscores the deep, often underestimated, strategic and civilizational ties between India and Sri Lanka.
The Surprise Element in Modi’s Honour
The bestowal of the “Mitra Vibhooshana” on Narendra Modi, a figure long identified with muscular diplomacy and unapologetic nationalism, by a coalition government headed by a former Marxist in Sri Lanka was an unexpected diplomatic curveball. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and now Prime Minister, was widely expected to adopt a foreign policy posture that distanced Colombo from New Delhi’s strategic embrace, particularly given the JVP’s historical anti-India rhetoric during the Cold War and its leftist, nationalist roots. However, this gesture signals a mature shift in South Asian diplomacy—one that transcends ideology and instead recognizes regional interdependence, mutual strategic necessity, and the undeniable historical and cultural affinities that bind India and Sri Lanka.
Modi’s Role in Sri Lanka’s Post-Crisis Recovery
While many in China and parts of South Asia saw Dissanayake’s rise as a challenge to India’s regional influence, the award recognises Modi’s consistent support to Sri Lanka, especially during its worst financial and political crisis in 2022–23. India extended nearly $4 billion in financial aid, including lines of credit, currency swaps, and essential supply deliveries at a time when Sri Lanka faced acute fuel and food shortages. In addition, Modi’s government actively lobbied for debt restructuring at international forums, encouraging institutions like the IMF and World Bank to step up. This quiet, yet impactful diplomacy appears to have resonated with the new administration, prompting Colombo to acknowledge India’s role not just as a benefactor, but as a trustworthy and time-tested partner.
Sri Lanka’s Strategic Rebalancing
Dissanayake’s move also shows an attempt by the new government to engage in a balanced foreign policy, diverging from reliance on a single external player. In the last decade, China has poured huge investments into Sri Lanka through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), culminating in the controversial 99-year Hambantota Port lease and growing debt liabilities. This excessive dependence on Chinese finance provoked across-the-board condemnation in Sri Lanka and fuelled the wider issue of economic sovereignty and strategic autonomy. In honoring Modi, Sri Lanka is thus sending the message that it wants a multipolar model of engagement—one where India is a key, but not hegemon, player. It also sends a quiet message to Beijing: Colombo will not be beholden to any power bloc and will respect relationships built on mutual respect, cultural proximity, and timely support.
China’s Discomfort and the Changing Regional Optics
China’s subdued reaction to the “Mitra Vibhooshana” award is instructive. In recent years, Beijing has courted Sri Lanka aggressively, using its economic heft and geostrategic aspirations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). But the very fact that Colombo decided to celebrate its relations with New Delhi in public, even when there was a left-wing government in power, suggests that China’s penetration might not be as profound or irreversible as imagined. Beijing is also worried about India’s increasing relations with other countries in the IOR region, including the Maldives, Mauritius, and Seychelles. By preserving goodwill across party lines in Sri Lanka and underpinning diplomatic relations through infrastructure and humanitarian diplomacy, New Delhi is actually challenging Chinese hegemony not by coercion, but by consistency and building trust.
The symbolism of a Marxist-led government awarding an honour to a right-of-centre Indian leader has rung across South Asia. For Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Maldives, the episode proves that realistic foreign policy can cut across ideological lines. The episode also vindicates India’s case that it remains the natural first responder and regional anchor during crises. Significantly, the gesture also gives Sri Lanka more agency in its foreign policy deliberations. By demonstrating that it is able to maintain its relationship with India without compromising its sovereignty or inviting economic dependency, Colombo is setting an example for regional diplomacy—one that values balance, history, and strategic vision.
India–Sri Lanka Relations through the Kautilayan Lens: A Strategic Surprise for China
India’s management of its relationship with Sri Lanka, particularly in its economic crisis and subsequent political change, is a powerful exercise of Kautilyan statecraft—pragmatic, strategic, and grounded in dharmic realism. Just as Kautilya stated in the Arthashastra, “The king shall be ever active in the management of the economy for the well-being of the people,” India’s timely $4 billion aid package to Sri Lanka in 2022–23 captures this wise sentiment. This assistance, provided without conditions of hegemony, made India a reliable and benevolent neighbor, living the philosophy of Kautilya, that “A king who is just and good becomes the shelter of dharma.” India applied saama, daana, bheda and danda,—persuasion, incentives, strategic division and deterrence, not to coerce, but to equilibrate.
Through cultural diplomacy, particularly Buddhist connections, India reinforced the Arthashastra’s maxims: “Of all kinds of conquests, the conquest of the hearts of friends is the best.” China, which was used to transactional diplomacy and debt ensnaring, was surprised when Sri Lanka’s new left-of-centre government led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake bestowed the Mitra Vibhooshana upon Prime Minister Modi. This recognition was a testament to respect earned, not demanded—a victory of “strategic patience” over economic pressure. As Kautilya had counseled: “He who is possessed of foresight and energy shall conquer difficulties, however great.” India’s measured, civilizational, and timely approach to Sri Lanka has outsmarted Chinese presumptions, affirming that Kautilyan wisdom lives on in contemporary Indian diplomacy.
In addition to strategy, the “Mitra Vibhooshana” also recognizes India’s long-standing civilizational connections with Sri Lanka. Modi has always espoused India’s Buddhist heritage as a cultural bond with Sri Lanka. His pilgrimage to Anuradhapura, Kandy, and other holy Buddhist centers was not a symbolic visit but an integral part of a large-scale soft power policy. Institutionalized under Modi, India’s Buddhist diplomacy, including initiatives like the Bharat–Sri Lanka Buddhist Circuit, monk scholarships, and cooperative archaeological excavations, has seen the light of day. These cultural connections strongly resonate in Sri Lanka, particularly with Buddhist monks and intellectuals, who regard India as the keeper of the Dharma tradition.
A Calculated Welcome to the Future: Symbolism to Substance
Though symbolic, the “Mitra Vibhooshana” has real implications. It opens doors for closer economic integration, security collaboration, and sea connectivity. India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision is in harmony with Sri Lanka’s aspiration to continue as a neutral but significant actor in the IOR. Already, there are plans to revive the suspended Trincomalee oil tank farm project, strengthen naval interoperability, and revisit the India–Sri Lanka Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) talks. If carried to their logical conclusion, these moves can reset the India–Sri Lanka relationship as one of cooperative federalism and regional strength. In awarding the “Mitra Vibhooshana” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lanka has made a pioneering move that transcends tradition. It is a communication to its people and the world that regional cooperation is not an ideological question but one of necessity, history, and common destinies.
For India, it is a vindication of its patient diplomacy, timely support, and civilizational engagement with neighbourhood relations. For South Asia and China, it is a reminder that relationships founded on trust, empathy, and mutual respect can resist the pressures of geopolitics. The Mitra Vibhooshana is more than a medal; it is a moment of realignment in South Asian diplomacy, in which new terms are being calculated—not against the past, but with the future.
Dr. Nanda Kishor M. S. is an Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Pondicherry University, and former Head of Geopolitics and International Relations at Manipal University. His expertise spans India’s foreign policy, conflict resolution, international law, and national security, with several publications and fellowships from institutions including UNHCR, Brookings, and DAAD. The views expressed are the author’s own.
Diksha Bharti 
Aayush Pal