Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has urged the Sri Lankan government to conduct Provincial Council elections at the earliest opportunity, signalling New Delhi's growing pressure on the Dissanayake administration to implement constitutional devolution provisions.
During a recent visit to Colombo, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri pressed the Sri Lankan government to hold Provincial Council (PC) elections without further delay, while also calling for full implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to address Tamil aspirations. The intervention marks an escalation in India's efforts to influence the timing of elections that have remained suspended for years across multiple provinces.
The diplomatic push carries particular historical irony, as the JVP-led government now receiving such pressure was formed by a party that violently opposed Indian involvement in Sri Lankan affairs during the late 1980s, including orchestrating attacks against Indian products and activists. Despite this antagonistic history, India has since extended diplomatic legitimacy to JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his National People's Power coalition.
Provincial Council elections have not been held uniformly across Sri Lanka since 2014, with some provinces last voting in 2012. The delay persists despite a 2017 constitutional amendment by a broad cross-party coalition—including the then-ruling UNP, opposition SLFP, JVP, and Tamil parties—that ostensibly aimed to increase female representation. The NPP itself pledged in its election manifesto to conduct PC elections within one year of taking office, a commitment that remains unfulfilled. Former Election Commission Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya has characterized the continued absence of elected provincial representatives as a grave constitutional violation that demands immediate remedy.
