India, Sri Lanka, and Israel’s overlooked Indian Ocean opportunity - opinion

Sri Lanka may not rank alongside India, Japan and Singapore in Israel’s Asian priorities, but its location gives it strategic weight that Israel has largely overlooked, according to this opinion article.

The island lies close to major sea lanes and within India’s immediate maritime security environment. For New Delhi, access to Sri Lankan ports and maritime infrastructure carries implications beyond the bilateral relationship. Indian concerns about Chinese research and survey vessels reflect the sensitivity of ports, infrastructure and oceanographic information that could have dual-use applications near India’s coastline.

The article cautions against reducing Sri Lanka to another arena of India-China competition. Colombo has strong reasons to maintain ties with several partners, including China. An Israeli strategy focused mainly on containing Beijing, it argues, would misunderstand Sri Lanka’s interests and narrow the room for cooperation.

India’s relationship with Sri Lanka has also moved beyond the emergency assistance New Delhi provided during the island’s 2022 economic crisis, when it supplied about $4 billion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 2025 visit produced agreements on electricity interconnection, digital transformation and development, as well as the first formal memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation. India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates also agreed to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub.

The defence memorandum formalised existing cooperation in training, naval visits, exercises and capacity-building. Its areas include joint exercises, maritime surveillance, hydrography and the provision of defence platforms and assets. Sri Lanka and India conduct the regular SLINEX naval exercise, while their navies held a fourth bilateral diving exercise in Colombo in April 2026. Sri Lankan personnel have also joined India’s wider IOS Sagar initiative.