Indian High Commissioner meets JVP leaders

Stems from the JVP’s close links with the successful anti-Gotabaya Rajapaksa movement

Colombo, July 26: The Janatha Vifmukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake called on the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay on Tuesday. The meeting took place at the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

The discussion focused on Sri Lanka’s economic crisis and the strengthening of bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka. JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath and the first Secretary to the Indian High Commission in Colombo Eldos Mathew also participated in the discussion.

Earlier, the US Ambassador Julie Chung had met Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Foreign Ambassadors have begun meeting JVP leaders publicly after the party got identified with the anti-Gotabaya Rajapaksa and anti-Ranil Wickremesinghe movements.

Given the fact that the movement called Aragalaya (struggle) succeeded in forcing Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee from the country and resign from exile in Singapore, its supporters among the political parties have gained international attention. Among the parties in parliament, the closest to the Aragalaya is the JVP. However, at the ground level, the movement was led by a breakaway group of the  JVP called Firstline Socialist Party (FSP) led by Kumar Gunaratnam. It is not certain if there is an alliance between the two or it is just a case of the JVP riding piggy back on the FSP.