In the 18th century, Russians became fascinated with oriental splendour, largely due to the literature produced by German and French orientalists. This interest inspired Russian intellectuals to explore and challenge their ignorance about the East. One of the earliest points of interest for Russia regarding Sri Lanka—then known as Ceylon—stems from this general fascination with the Orient.
Ivan Minayev was the first prominent Russian scholar to visit Sri Lanka in the late 19th century to study the Pali Buddhist canons. The literature he researched during his time in Sri Lanka was translated into Russian in 1887, igniting enthusiasm among Russian intellectuals.
Minayev expressed genuine sympathy for the indigenous people suffering under British colonial rule, which aligned with his strong anti-colonial sentiments. Another notable figure, the legendary Russian writer Anton Chekhov, also spent a brief period in colonial Sri Lanka in the 19th century. His short descriptions of the island reflect the same compassion that Minayev showed towards the natives affected by British colonialism.
Sri Lanka’s historical awareness of Russia and its people were no better than the Russians, if not below. After spending centuries under the colonial domination of European colonisers from Portuguese to British, the Sri Lankans were intellectually crippled regarding their knowledge of global affairs as their system of education was essentially carved under the needs of the British Empire, in which Britain was the paragon for the natives. Also, Sri Lankans under the British identified Russia as another European country, which became conspicuous when Japan defeated Russia in 1905 leading to a sudden euphoria of the colonised on the victory of a fellow Asian country against an European power.
Western powers
After the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922 in the aftermath of the October Revolution, Western powers continued to isolate the Soviet system from global affairs, which impacted cutting the ties between the Soviets and the natives in the colonies. The French-British colonial officers curtailed the links with the Soviet Union as they assumed that the Soviets might spread Communism in the colonies to topple the imperial pillars.
In the aftermath of the October revolution in Russia, the Ceylonese press reaction mixed with condemnation and anger on the revolutionists and they deplored that the falling of Russia was only a question of time. The English educated native elites in Colombo blindly embraced the Russophobic narratives constructed by the British. In the 1920’s the Governor of Ceylon inquired whether there was any connection between the general strikes in Colombo and the Bolsheviks.
The colonial administration in Sri Lanka, although trumpeting the great gift of Western modernity closed the eyes of the natives from the developments occurring within the Soviet system as it only depicted to be a draconian regime abhorring the fundamental pillars of human justice. The parochial myth propagated by the British reached its ebb when the young Sri Lankan students aspired to Marxism during their student days in Europe and began to challenge the echelons of the political power held by the British and their loyal stooges on the island.
First Sri Lanka Ambassador to the Soviet Union Prof.
Gunapala Malalasekera
Colvin R. De Silva, who later became a stalwart in the Leftist Movement in Sri Lanka was the first Sri Lankan to visit the Soviet Union as a student and the admiration he developed towards the Soviet system transformed young Colvin into a Marxist, who later formed the first organised political party in Sri Lanka called “Lanka Samasamaja Party” (LSSP) along with NM Perera, SA Wickremasinghe, and Peter Keuneman in 1935.
The leaders of the Sama Samaja party had mixed feelings towards the Soviet Union regardless of their admiration, which finally paved the way for internal fractions within the party as some members acknowledged the Stalinist terror while others had tendencies towards Trotskyism. Indeed, this internal turmoil within the Sama Samaja party reached its nadir when the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the events that occurred in the following years resulted in expelling the Pro-Moscow members from the party, which included some key members such as Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe.
From the advent of independence towards the end of the Cold War, Soviet attitude towards Sri Lanka and its policies were driven by Moscow’s relations with the Sri Lanka Communist Party, which was the party established by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe and a few other members after their expulsion from the Lanka Sama Samaja party.
Founded in 1943 as a political party challenging the leftist hegemony held by the LLSP, the Community Party of Sri Lanka committed its policies centred on the position of the Soviet Union. The events that followed under the successive Governments after Independence in 1948 were akin to a continuity of the colonial anathema of anti-Communism in the British era.
The Government under the first Premier of Sri Lanka D. S. Senanayake grappled with its own security dilemma, in which he did not persuade himself to explore avenues for building relations with the Soviet Union.
Despite the salient differences between ideologies, the Soviet Union and India formed its diplomatic ties in the year that India gained its independence and Stalin’s dislike towards India as a peripheral country built under imperialism began to change in the last stage of his life. When it came to Sri Lanka, D. S. Senanayake’s antipathy to Communism remained visible throughout his governance and it ran parallel to the leftist opposition that he was facing in Parliament.
In fact, it is a misleading conjuncture to label the first decade of the Government under D. S. Senanayake and his successors as purely pro-British without observing the real causes behind it. The prime concern of D. S. Senanayake’s Government was rooted in its commitment to ensuring Sri Lanka’s defence from an external power like India and in securing the country’s defence, D. S. Senanayake mainly relied on the British. Sri Lanka’s initial alignment with the West and its hostility towards Communism ultimately led to repercussions, as the Soviet Union played a significant role in blocking the country’s application for United Nations membership.
SWRD and Gunapala Malalasekara
The electoral victory of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1956 marked a significant turning point in modern Sri Lankan history, profoundly impacting the nation’s socio-political landscape. The romance with the West, maintained by Bandaranaike’s predecessors, came to an end with the new foreign policy introduced under his Government. Bandaranaike deviated from the previous pro-British stance, aligning Sri Lanka with the Non-Aligned Movement, alongside prominent leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and J. Tito. This was followed by initiating formal diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Sri Lanka in 1957.
Bandaranaike’s move was compatible with the Soviet Union’s novel strategy focused on South Asia for the first time since the death of Stalin, which predominantly focused on forging ties with South Asian countries. The first ambassador from Sri Lanka to the Soviet Union was Prof. Gunapala Malalasekera, a renowned Orientalist. His fame in the international academia helped build Sri Lanka’s image in Moscow during the infancy of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Malalasekera’s approach was an apt one without displaying any specific political ideologies, which elevated the status of Sri Lanka as a State with no inimical attitude towards the Soviets or Communism in general. Prof. Malalasekera delivered a few guest lectures on Buddhism at the Moscow State University and he was often invited by the Institute of Oriental Studies in the USSR.
Looking at the ties that forged between the two countries, it could be simply summed up that Lion and the Bear have come a long way as knitted partners.
The writer is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University
