Sri Lanka keenly watched the recently concluded U.S. elections, but how a Biden presidency might impact the island nation’s political and economic future remains to be seen, amid a heightening geopolitical contest in the region.

In line with the prevalent diplomatic norm, Sri Lanka’s leaders President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa wished Joe Biden on Twitter, although some on social media were quick to point to the relative delay in their outreach, compared to many of their counterparts. However, diplomatic ties — in this case between two countries sharing an asymmetric power dynamic — often unravel behind the social media stage where leaders exchange courtesies bound by character limits. And that story, of Washington-Colombo relations under a Biden administration, is yet to unfold.