No Tamil for Modi as Indian PM arrives in Sri Lanka

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touched down in Colombo this evening for his three-day official visit to Sri Lanka, large hoardings and welcome banners were seen across the capital – notably missing any Tamil-language content.

Despite Modi’s repeated public admiration for the Tamil language, including his declarations that Tamil is “the oldest living language in the world” and a “treasure of Indian heritage,” the Sri Lankan state appeared to disregard these sentiments in its messaging.

Prominent banners displayed in central Colombo were written only in Sinhala and English – entirely excluding Tamil, one of the country's official languages and spoken widely across the North-East and by the Tamil diaspora.

A photograph from the capital shows a large hoarding with the message "Warm welcome to the India's Pride, Hon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Friendship of centuries, commitment to prosperous future" – a phrase that also contains grammatical errors. Below the message are the flags of India and Sri Lanka, and photographs of Prime Minister Modi and a Sri Lankan minister.

Smaller signs put up across the capital did display the phrase “vanakkam” or “welcome” in Tamil – underneath the Sinhalese version of the greeting.

Modi's visit comes amid increasing Indian investment in Sri Lanka, including energy projects and infrastructure development, many of which are concentrated in the Tamil homeland.