India’s VP to expand outreach to Indian-origin Tamil community during Sri Lanka visit

In a wide-ranging diplomatic and people-centric engagement, Indian Vice President CP Radhakrishnan will hold talks with Sri Lanka’s top leadership and connect with the Indian-origin Tamil community during his two-day official visit beginning April 19, marking a significant milestone in bilateral ties between the two countries.

According to Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, the Indian Vice President’s itinerary includes meetings with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and the Leader of the Opposition, alongside interactions with representatives of Sri Lankan Tamil parties and Indian-origin Tamil political groups.

Speaking to ANI ahead of the Indian Vice President’s visit to the island nation, Jha reflects on the strong blend of official diplomacy and grassroots outreach, noting that the Vice President will also participate in a community reception with the Indian diaspora, where he is expected to address and engage with nearly 1.5 million Indian-origin Tamils living in Sri Lanka. 

“He will meet the President; he will meet the Prime Minister; he will meet the Leader of the Opposition. Then he will meet leaders of Sri Lankan Tamil parties and Indian-origin Tamil political parties,” Jha said, outlining the Vice President’s engagements.

The second day of the visit will take the Vice President to Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka’s picturesque up-country tea-growing region, where a large section of the Indian-origin Tamil community resides. There, he will visit settlements developed under India’s Housing Project Phase III, which has already constructed 4,000 houses, with an additional 10,000 currently underway.

The visit is expected to be particularly emotive, as the Indian Vice President will interact directly with families living in these housing clusters, listening to their concerns and experiences. 

“There is a village where he has a visit, a place where we have built houses under our Indian Housing Project, Phase 3, under which we have built 4,000 houses. And currently, we are building 10,000 more houses in that area. So, the Vice President will go there, meet the residents, talk to them, try to understand their problems, and naturally strengthen our connection with the Indian Origin Tamil community,” the Indian High Commissioner said.

The Vice President will also visit the revered Seetha Temple in Nuwara Eliya, adding a cultural and spiritual dimension to the trip. Jha noted that the visit has generated considerable anticipation in Sri Lanka, with multiple leaders and public figures seeking meetings with the visiting dignitary. 

“There is a lot of enthusiasm and expectation regarding his visit,” he said, adding that the engagement comes in continuation of a sustained pattern of high-level exchanges between the two countries.

“This visit is coming exactly one year after the Prime Minister’s visit. Over the last two to three years, there has been a continuous series of high-level exchanges,” he added. 

He pointed to recent reciprocal visits, including the Sri Lankan President’s trip to India in December 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025, and further leadership exchanges between the two sides. Describing the visit as a “key milestone”, Jha said it will provide an opportunity to review the full spectrum of bilateral relations.

“We will talk about people-to-people connections and bringing more depth to our relations. Today, our relations are very strong, but we will discuss how to take them further forward,” he said. 

The Ministry of External Affairs of India has described Sri Lanka as a key partner under India’s Neighbourhood First policy and Vision MAHASAGAR framework, noting that the visit will further reinforce centuries-old civilisational ties and deepen the enduring people-to-people relationship between the two nations.

Source: ANI

--Agencies