India–Sri Lanka

Economic leverage does not automatically convert into constitutional outcomes in a neighbouring state. That gap runs through every India–Sri Lanka file. The Indo–Sri Lanka Accord, 1987 led Sri Lanka to adopt the Thirteenth Amendment, devolving powers to provincial councils, and brought in the Indian Peace Keeping Force; Tamil reconciliation through fuller devolution under that amendment remains India's stated interest. The 1974 and 1976 maritime agreements settled the boundary and placed Katchatheevu on the Sri Lankan side, without resolving the Palk Bay fisheries dispute over bottom-trawling by Indian vessels. Economic ties rest on the Free Trade Agreement, 1998 and credit extended during the 2022 debt crisis.