The Importance of Focusing on India

Milinda Moragoda is a Sri Lankan politician who is currently serving as the 22nd High Commissioner to India since 2020. In his decade-long political career, Mr. Moragoda served as principal government negotiator in the peace talks of 2002-2004. He has also served as cabinet minister for economic reform, science and technology, tourism, justice and law reform in the Sri Lankan government. Mr Moragoda played an important role in getting financial assistance from New Delhi after Sri Lanka plunged into an economic crisis in 2022. Apart from being a diplomat and politician, Mr Moragoda is also a successful entrepreneur and also has experience of over two decades in the media industry. He currently serves as chairman of the MMBL-Pathfinder Group, a privately held investment group, and has hosted television and radio shows in both Sinhala and English. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash and Naveen Kapoor, Moragoda talks about his close ties with top officials of the Indian government and how India went all out to provide timely assistance to the island nation during the economic crisis. He also talks about Indian concern over Hambantota port, which is run by the Chinese, and how it has affected India-Sri Lanka ties. He also talks about the inheritance of debt which pushed the tourism-dependent nation into crisis.