Impact Of Pm’s Indian Ocean Tour – Sri Lanka

The Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, made the Indian Ocean tour to harmonise the relations between the various countries like Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and the Maldives. However, he had to cancel going to the Maldives due to some political crisis going on over there. His tour was a great success and strengthened the bonds of these three nations with India. 

It was a move to harmonise the relations with these three countries in order to use the Indian Ocean, which is an important trade route. Along with this, the intention was to strengthen the bonds to make them support India in times of need. 

MoU Between India and Sri Lanka

The PM’s visit to the nation of Sri Lanka, in fact, was a huge success, and resulted in many positive outcomes. Along with many other benefits of the tour, one of them was signing an MoU by Sri Lanka. MoU stands for memorandum of understanding, and denotes that the nations between which it has been signed have friendly and understanding relations with each other. 

On the security front, it has been signed for establishing a Maritime Rescue Co-ordination with India, giving a grant of 6 million dollars. Many MoUs were signed between India and Sri Lanka regarding various important things, including the development of fisheries and harbours in Sri Lanka. 

India and Sri Lanka as Two Separate Countries With Different Geographical Conditions

India and Sri Lanka are the two countries that are situated very close to one another. They are separated by the Indian Ocean, which is one of the largest trade routes in the world. It is an important source of economy for Sri Lanka and India. Both the countries have different geographical conditions and different sources of economy. India signed an MoU with Sri Lanka in order to enhance its current economic state, by asking Sri Lanka to let India develop the fisheries and harbours in Sri Lanka. 

The Response of the Indians as well as the Sri Lankan Citizens to This Tour

The tour by the PM of India to Sri Lanka was a smart and fruitful step to enhance the condition of the Indian nation and strengthen its bonds with Sri Lanka. The Indians were quite happy with the success of this tour. They congratulated the Prime Minister for his amazing initiatives and his idea of the Indian Ocean tour. 

Sri Lanka is an immediate neighbour country, with whom the establishment of better and congenial relations was a necessity. The PM made the right decision by making a tour, as it greatly helped India when the Sri Lankan nation signed the various MoUs. 

The Sri Lankan citizens were also very happy about the tour of India’s PM. Although some of them criticised the Sri Lankan nation for having signed different MoUs at the cost of its own security, many Sri Lankan citizens were quite happy about it.

Effects of Tour 

The PM’s Indian Ocean tour was a great success which helped him to strengthen the relations of India with three other nations, one of them being Sri Lanka. Rajiv Gandhi made a tour to Sri Lanka in 1987. And after many years, the PM made a tour in 2015. The geographical proximity made the relations and their strengthening even more important. In fact, this tour helped form a positive impact on the Sri Lankan citizens. The tour was a great success as the common citizens of the visited nations started sympathising with India and respected the Indian government. 

India, in return, proposed various mutually benefitting schemes to those nations, which can help them, as well as allow India to flourish together. 

India promised the Sri Lankan government a Ramayana trail in Sri Lanka and a Buddhist Circuit in India. The PM also made the visas free of cost for a particular time for the Sri Lankan citizens, thereby building a bond between the two nations. In other words, the tour was a grand success that led to the popularisation of India as well as its Prime Minister. 

Conclusion

The Prime Minister of India made a tour to three countries in the Indian Ocean, and made it a huge success. He visited Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and Mauritius. The terms proposed by the PM and the help offered by him assisted in strengthening the bonds between these nations and India. 

The MoUs were signed between India and Sri Lanka as a symbiotic process. The citizens of both nations were equally happy at the success of the tour and the strengthening of the bonds and cordial relations between the two.