The election of former defence minister Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Sri Lanka's president is an important development for the region and presents new diplomatic challenges for New Delhi. Like his brother, the new Sri Lankan president was close to China. His party, as well as his brother's government in the past, fed on Sinhala chauvinism, to the detriment of the island nation's Tamil and Muslim minorities. It is possible that Rajapaksa would like to change course and build better relations with India.New Delhi must prepare for a pro-China tilt in Colombo, some spillover of Lanka's Tamil politics to Tamil Nadu and to nurture any green shoot of renewed friendship with India. India must act as a constructive partner in the face of the likelihood of continued political tussle in Sri Lanka till the November 2020 elections, possible repeal of amendments that moved Sri Lanka to a parliamentary democracy, the island's economic and ethnic woes, to provide Rajapaksa with a viable alternative partnership to Mahinda Rajapaksa's embrace of China that resulted in a huge debt burden. The year-long political tussle between President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the government's failure to prevent the ISISinspired Easter attack in April, despite multiple credible warnings, helped Rajapaksa beat rival Sajith Premadasa. His real test will be how he deals with the economy and how he seeks to deal with the ethnic divide. The new president can expect some global headwinds, given his pledge not to honour Sri Lanka's commitments to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the allegations of war crimes against him and his brother. India's support would help him navigate these choppy waters.