Sir Lankans have put their trust in Gotabaya Rajapaksa in the recently concluded presidential elections. The Sri Lankan elections have become increasingly important for Pakistan over the years, not only for cricket or tourism reasons, but also for regional alignments, the shared history of fighting terrorism and in the wake of mounting tensions between China and Indian for regional influence. The results were not quite unexpected as the runner-up, Sajith Premdasa, went into electioneering with the burden of incumbency and a wave of resentment against him in the south. The overwhelming part of Sri Lanka went for Rajapaksa, the brother of former president Mahinda Rajapakasa, for his decisive role in culling the decades-long Tamil insurgency when he being the defence secretary took on the decisive onslaught and announced victory back in 2009. The recent Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, claimed by the Islamic State, weakened the outgoing president’s government for his ‘weak response’. The fear of reprisal from Rajapakasa is visible in the minds of Tamils and Muslims, and for this reason, they did not support him in the polls; the major chunk of the island, Sinhalis, stood by Rajapakasa and landed him a convincing majority. The new president faces the challenges of ethnic and communal fragmentation besides the poor state of economy and terrorism. Rajapakasa will have to allay the fears of minority Muslims and Tamils. The Pakistani government has congratulated him on his landslide victory, and with Rajapakasa, a new era of relations can set off beteen Pakistan and Sri Lanka. His predecessor’s outright tilt towards India, when it came to Pakistan, had strained ties between the otherwise friendly countries. In 2016, Sri Lanka stood by Delhi in boycotting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation being hosted by Pakistan. Rajapakasa, however, works independently when it comes to India or other regional matters. In 2014, he being the defence secretary defied Indian’s warning against allowing Chinese naval warships into Colombo harbour. The Rajapaksas have often been on a collision course with the Modi government. They have accused Indian diplomats in Sri Lanka of influencing elections in 2015. The recent results would have set off shock waves in Delhi, and a sigh of relief in Beijing. Pakistan and Sri Lanka can join hands again in promotion of cricket in Pakistan, while Pakistan can benefit from Sri Lankan’s experience to turn around its tourism sector. A peaceful Sri Lanka will benefit the whole region. *