Sri Lanka’s absence from the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India has again raised questions over the country’s place in a changing global economic and geopolitical environment. The summit, hosted by India on 12 and 13 September, brought together BRICS members and other emerging market and developing country representatives at a time when trade, capital flows, energy prices, and international relations are undergoing significant changes.
For Sri Lanka, the issue brings into question how Colombo intends to position itself between economic groupings such as BRICS and its existing relationships with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Western economies, especially as the country seeks investment, trade opportunities, and financing after the recent economic crisis.
SL’s positioning and significant losses
In this context, former Ambassador and foreign policy expert Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka argued that Sri Lanka’s repeated absence from BRICS-related meetings had come at a cost, especially given the country’s application for BRICS membership and the opportunities that participation could provide.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning , Dr. Jayatilleka noted that although Sri Lanka had applied for BRICS membership showcasing aspiration, the country’s conduct has contradicted the stated interest in obtaining membership, pointing to Sri Lanka’s absence from the 2024, 2025, and 2026 BRICS Summits.
Sri Lanka had received an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2024, but President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had declined to attend due to the Sri Lankan Parliamentary Elections that were upcoming at the time and campaign commitments. However, Dr. Jayatilleka argued that the BRICS Summit was only a two- or three-day conference and that attending it would not necessarily have affected preparations for the election.
He said that while Sri Lanka had been represented by an official instead, officials were normally not sent to represent countries at summits where leaders met, noting this as a significant lost opportunity. According to Dr. Jayatilleka, such absence could have been interpreted as a signal that Sri Lanka was not sufficiently committed to joining BRICS.
He further argued that Sri Lanka’s failure to participate had coincided with a lack of progress on the country’s BRICS membership application. While other countries, including Indonesia, subsequently became members and some were admitted as BRICS partner countries, Sri Lanka has still not obtained membership. Furthermore, Sri Lanka did not attend the 2025 summit in Brazil and missed the opportunity to attend the summit in India this year.
“The lack of participation and membership constitute an enormous loss in terms of Sri Lanka’s international standing and national interest, especially considering that BRICS now consists of the overwhelming majority of the world’s population,” he said.
Discussing economic repercussions, Dr. Jayatilleka noted that membership of the New Development Bank could have provided another source of development financing, especially when compared with borrowing through private international money markets, which carried high interest rates.
He also questioned Sri Lanka’s wider participation in multilateral groupings, noting that the country had not attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting this year either. Dr. Jayatilleka described both BRICS and the SCO as important groupings for the Global South and Eurasia, highlighting Sri Lanka’s geographical position and relations with countries such as China, India, Pakistan, and Russia.
“We are turning away from our natural constituency, that is to say, the Global South and Eurasia, which we are members of, as these are two premier multilateral organisations representing both these regions,” he said.
On the question of what Sri Lanka should do going forward, Dr. Jayatilleka said that the country needed to have a clear understanding of its place in the international system and pursue relationships accordingly. He added that Sri Lanka should seek membership, partnership, or observer status in groupings such as BRICS and the SCO, while behaving in a manner that would facilitate such participation.
Moving beyond BRICS, Dr. Jayatilleka also raised concerns about Sri Lanka’s involvement in a recent US programme relating to US maritime sanctions. He questioned why Sri Lanka should take part in programmes related to unilateral sanctions imposed by another country, especially when the countries affected by those sanctions had established relations with Sri Lanka.
He further argued that Sri Lanka should avoid becoming involved in matters that could affect international relations, especially with countries considered friendly.
Turning to the economic side of the discussion, University of Peradeniya (UOP) Department of Economics and Statistics Head and Senior Professor Prasanna Perera noted that this pattern was not limited to a single missed event. He explained that having stayed away from the 2024 summit, Sri Lanka had subsequently failed to secure an invitation to the 2026 BRICS Summit at all, despite the Government’s publicly stated interest in membership.
“The President’s decision to skip the United Nations General Assembly in New York this September, delegating the national address to the Foreign Minister instead, adds to this impression.
“When a country’s head of state is absent from the world’s principal diplomatic stages, it signals to international investors and creditors that Sri Lanka lacks a cohesive, outward-facing strategy at precisely the moment it needs to be presenting one. An economy seeking to attract capital cannot afford to be seen retreating from the rooms where that capital is courted,” he said.
Moreover, Prof. Perera highlighted another point that should not be overlooked: the volume of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flowing into Sri Lanka. In 2024, FDI into Sri Lanka amounted to approximately $ 845 million, increasing modestly to around $ 1,154 million in 2025.
“However, taking the Sri Lankan economy to the next level will require annual foreign investment in the range of $ 3–4 billion. To attract investment of that scale, it is essential that the President not skip such international events and that he participate in them instead. Failing that, the signals reaching global investors will work against Sri Lanka’s economic interests,” he said.
Meanwhile, lawyer, senior legal academic, and multidisciplinary researcher Dr. Udara Soysa said that it was difficult to state that Sri Lanka had missed out by not attending the BRICS Summit, given the country’s current political and economic realities. He noted that Sri Lanka had to walk a tightrope between different geopolitical interests, especially in light of the country’s dependence on the IMF and the US.
“Understanding Sri Lanka’s dependence on the IMF and the US, it will be difficult for the country to adopt a complete pro-BRICS status,” he said.
Responding to a question on any potential economic repercussions, especially amidst the crisis in the Middle East, Dr. Soysa said that Sri Lanka, like almost all developed and developing countries, would continue to be affected, especially by increasing oil prices.
He further noted that the impact went beyond transport costs, as higher oil and diesel prices affected the overall cost of goods and services, with far-reaching repercussions for the country. However, he said that this crisis and Sri Lanka’s relationship with BRICS should not be treated as directly connected.
On Sri Lanka’s approach to BRICS going forward, Dr. Soysa stated that the country should take a balanced position rather than adopting an extreme stance. He said that the country’s close relationship with the IMF and the Western agenda associated with its economic programme made an entirely East-focused approach difficult.
He added that Sri Lanka should therefore avoid being hostile towards BRICS while also stopping short of completely subscribing to the grouping. “Perhaps at some point later, but at this point, in my opinion, no,” he said.
Macroeconomic growth and multilateral relationships
Speaking to The Sunday Morning on the macroeconomic aspect, Frontier Research Research Analyst Theeksha Gunasinghe said that Sri Lanka and the larger global economy were at a point of transition. He noted improvements in Sri Lanka’s macroeconomic performance over the past three years, including fiscal and external current account balances, in a global environment marked by changes in trade, oil prices, and capital flows.
Gunasinghe said that the external environment had become more uncertain, noting changes in global trade following the introduction of US tariffs in early 2025 and major movements in oil prices, as well as changes in capital flows, including higher interest in emerging markets.
“Sri Lanka finds itself in this context of strong domestic performance and a heavily volatile external environment. Connecting this to the BRICS, I would say it’s actually an interesting wave to ride, especially given the interest now towards emerging markets and countries, as investors increasingly try to diversify trade and capital flows as there is a lot of change taking place everywhere,” he said.
Gunasinghe outlined developments in East Asia, where growth in China had led to spillover effects in neighbouring economies, and stated that a similar dynamic could be relevant when considering BRICS and the larger group of emerging markets. He added that partnerships involving emerging market economies could help Sri Lanka access capital, investment, and technology, especially as the country looked towards the next stage of its economic development.
Discussing Sri Lanka’s expected completion of the IMF programme and the need to identify other sources of investment and financing, Gunasinghe noted that multilateral inflows had previously fallen below expectations while Sri Lanka had still managed external repayments without major domestic disruption.
“The question now is how Sri Lanka could secure investment as it moves beyond the IMF programme, and bilateral and multilateral relationships could support this effort. Moreover, Sri Lanka just received a credit rating upgrade by Fitch. If the other credit rating agencies also upgrade Sri Lanka and the country makes progress in that aspect, we can expect a higher foreign capital inflow to Sri Lanka’s debt and equity markets, which would be significant in driving the country’s economy to that next step,” he said.
Gunasinghe also noted that portfolio flows had been weak in recent years, adding that improvements in credit ratings could help attract foreign investment. He also highlighted broader partnerships and Sri Lanka’s trade and port services, which had seen expansion while also facing increasing competition, especially from South Indian ports.
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