Veteran politician Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the brand new prime minister of Sri Lanka after Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in because the Lanka President. Gunawardena, a former overseas affairs and schooling minister in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s authorities, has a robust India connection and has been vocal about solidifying the island nation’s relationship with India.
WHO IS DINESH GUNAWARDENA
A stalwart of Sri Lankan politics, Gunawardena, 73, was appointed as dwelling minister in April by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. With a comparatively clear picture, Gunawardena has served as a cabinet minister for over 22 years. During his stint in politics, he has publicly argued for having a greater relationship with India.
CLOSE CONFIDANTE OF RAJAPAKSA FAMILY
Dinesh Gunawardena can also be believed to be an in depth confidant of the ousted Rajapaksa household, who confronted nationwide protests over the nation’s worsening financial scenario. Protesters succeeded in eradicating Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, however many need Wickremesinghe and others they see as allies of the household gone too.
LINKS TO INDIA AND INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Dinesh Gunawardena’s household additionally has shut hyperlinks to India. His father, Philip Gunawardena, who is called the daddy of socialism in Sri Lanka, was a classmate of Jayaprakash Narayan and VK Krishna Menon on the University of Wisconsin.
Philip Gunawardena advocated for freedom from imperialism and later led the Anti-Imperialist League of India in London.
Philip Gunawardena and his spouse, Kusuma, had reached India after escaping from Sri Lanka (then a British colony, Ceylon) throughout the Second World War.
They joined the underground activists preventing for his or her freedom and had been apprehended by British intelligence, who imprisoned them in a Bombay jail in 1943. After a yr, they had been deported to Sri Lanka.
READ | Sri Lanka, India are ‘soulmates’, says Indian Envoy Gopal Baglay | Exclusive
READ | Natural to fret about its spillover, says Jaishankar on Sri Lanka disaster
— ENDS —
