India Our Closest Friend; Confident of Economic Recovery Soon

72-year-old Dinesh Gunawardene, a veteran of Sri Lankan politics, is known for his precise words.

During the regimes of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe between 2015 and 2019, the opposition flag was held high.

He is now the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka under President Wickremesinghe whom he fought for decades.

Interestingly, both Gunawardene and Wickremesinghe studied together at the prestigious Royal College in Colombo 50 years ago.

While Wickremesinghe is known as a supporter of a free economy, Gunawardene is a nationalist with a socialist ideology.

Educated in USA and Netherlands, Dinesh Gunawardene is a trade union leader and a fierce fighter like his great father Philip Gunawardene

Philip Gunawardene's love for India and efforts towards independence against imperialist occupation began in America in the early 1920s.

Speaking to Network18 at his office in Colombo, Dinesh Gunawardene advocated strong India-Lanka ties and expressed hope that the Sri Lankan economy would revive at the earliest.