Abstract

This article examines the maritime relationship between India and Sri Lanka during the period 2009 to 2024, a phase that began soon after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war. The ocean space between the two countries has become a meeting point of livelihood concerns, economic ambition, and strategic rivalry. Drawing on published government reports, scholarly writing, and policy documents, the article looks at four connected questions: how the fisheries dispute in the Palk Strait has affected coastal communities, how port development and the entry of outside powers, especially China, have reshaped the strategic picture, how far existing governance frameworks have managed these tensions, and what a Blue Economy approach can offer going forward. The study follows a qualitative, secondary-data design rather than fieldwork. It finds that cooperation between the two countries has grown in some areas, such as security dialogue and disaster response, but that the fisheries question remains largely unresolved and that geopolitical competition has added a further layer of difficulty. The article ends by suggesting that a more coordinated and people-centred approach to ocean governance is needed if the relationship is to move beyond recurring friction.

Keywords: India-Sri Lanka relations, Palk strait, Fisheries conflict, Blue economy, Maritime governance, Indian Ocean geopolitics