Sri Lanka, April 9 -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a three-day visit to Sri Lanka last week, his fourth visit to the country and the first since the election of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the JVP-led NPP government.

In some ways, the irony was rich for the JVP, whose megalomaniac leader, Rohana Wijeweera, conducted must-attend classes for the party cadres about the danger of 'Indian Expansionism'. Those youngsters then, who survived the state counter-terror unleashed against their equally nihilistic terror campaign in 88-89, are now the much venerated old guard of the party.

PM Modi's visit illustrates how far Sri Lanka-in all its bits and pieces-has moved from its past. It is also a case in point of the J...