Sri Lanka: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 4, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF10213 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Colin Willett |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a
constitutional democracy situated off the southeastern tip of
India’s Deccan Peninsula in the heart of the Indian Ocean.
Located along key shipping lanes, Sri Lanka and its Port of
Colombo—already a significant global shipping hub—have
grown in strategic importance as conflicts in the Middle
East have disrupted shipping in the Red Sea. The Biden
Administration has described Sri Lanka as “in the middle of
the geopolitical competition for regional influence.”
A democracy since its independence from the United
Kingdom in 1948, Sri Lanka (known as Ceylon until 1972)
was governed by two major political parties and their
offshoots until September 2024. During and after the 26-
year-long (1983-2009) civil war with the Tamil separatist
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the government
gradually expanded executive power, militarized the
country, and limited civil freedoms. In early 2022, Sri
Lanka experienced its worst economic crisis since
independence, sparking a public uprising that ultimately
drove President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from power. In
September 2024, Sri Lankans elected Anura Kumara
Dissanayake as president, the first president not associated
with the country’s dominant political parties.
Starting in the late 2000s, U.S. policy focused on
broadening Sri Lanka’s democratic institutions, promoting
good governance and human rights, and facilitating postwar reconciliation. Since the 2022 economic and political
crises, U.S. priorities have included supporting economic
reforms and more inclusive growth. U.S. policymakers,
including many in Congress, also have raised concerns
about the Sri Lankan government’s growing ties to the
People’s Republic of China (PRC, or China) over the past
two decades. Under former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa
(2005-2015) and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa (2019-
2022), Sri Lanka’s government relied on China to support
its fight against the LTTE, as well as numerous post-war
development projects, causing some observers to express
concern about the potential for China to exert economic and
military influence in a key part of the region.
