Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visits India in his first overseas trip as leader, a top Taliban leader is assassinated in an unclaimed bombing attack, and the Adani Group’s port operator withdraws a request for U.S. funding.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visits India in his first overseas trip as leader, a top Taliban leader is assassinated in an unclaimed bombing attack, and the Adani Group’s port operator withdraws a request for U.S. funding.

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In his first overseas trip since taking office, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited India this week, meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a far-ranging joint statement, the two leaders agreed to step up economic, energy, and defense cooperation. Dissanayake also invited Modi to visit Sri Lanka.

Perhaps most importantly, Dissanayake assured Modi that Sri Lankan territory won’t be used “in any way that is detrimental” to India’s interests, a possible reference to Indian concerns about Chinese research vessels docking in Sri Lanka and conducting surveillance. Dissanayake’s predecessor instituted a one-year moratorium on such vessels from any countries in January, but that will soon end.

India faces a challenge with the arrival of a few new leaders in its neighborhood who it sees as pro-Beijing, including Dissanayake. But his visit reasserted a long-standing partnership with India, and it offers a reminder that China-friendly leaders are not necessarily China-leaning leaders—they just want to balance ties between the two Asian powers better.

For all the talk of Dissanayake’s leftist politics and his party’s Marxist past, which suggest that he might align with China ideologically, he has consistently signaled his commitment to partnership with India. In February, Dissanayake traveled to India while still a presidential candidate and met Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar; they met again in Colombo in October.

Dissanayake has said little publicly about his China policy, but he has stated his intention to strengthen ties with Beijing and New Delhi. China is also a key commercial player in Sri Lanka, especially through its large infrastructure projects. Dissanayake surely wants to at least maintain that support. He will visit Beijing in........

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