By: Staff Writer
December 09, Colombo (LNW): Cyclone Ditwah exposed not just the fragility of Sri Lanka’s infrastructure but the fragility of its foreign policy footing. As floodwaters rose, so did the visibility of India and China two rivals whose disaster assistance carries implications far beyond humanitarian goodwill.
India’s Operation Sagar Bandhu rolled out with unmistakable force: 53 tonnes of supplies, multiple military aircraft, naval ships, helicopter sorties, medical units, and National Disaster Response Force (India) NDRF rescue specialists operating on Sri Lankan soil.
The mission’s scale and speed far exceeded that of any other foreign partner, reinforcing New Delhi’s decades-long campaign to position itself as the Indian Ocean’s immediate responder. For India, the message was clear: depend on us when lives are at stake.
China’s involvement, though smaller during the emergency phase, followed its usual economic-first template. The US$100,000 Red Cross donation and local embassy-driven charity drives are only the opening act.
Beijing is expected to step in during the reconstruction phase where its influence is strongest through large-scale financing and project-led interventions. In other words: depend on us when rebuilding the future.
This creates a dangerous split in Sri Lanka’s vulnerability profile. India dominates emergency response; China dominates long-term finance. In between stands a struggling country trying not to mortgage its sovereignty to either.
The risk is that Sri Lanka, weakened by economic upheaval and climate shocks, becomes a site where disaster relief evolves into strategic leverage. Rescue missions build trust. Reconstruction loans build influence. If left unmanaged, both can quietly shape national decisions for years.
The government must now adopt a transparent, multi-source reconstruction strategy that limits exposure to single-country dependency. Projects must undergo resilience assessment, community consultation, and open tendering. Any bilateral financing whether from India, China, or elsewhere should be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and public reporting
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