 "PM Modi honoured with Sri Lanka’s highest civilian honour ‘Mitra Vibhushana’ for boosting bilateral ties")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred with the prestigious Mithra Vibhushana medal by the Government of Sri Lanka on Saturday. The Indian premier was honoured for his “exceptional efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and promote the shared cultural and spiritual heritage of the two nations.”
The honour was given after Modi landed in Colombo for his three-day visit to Sri Lanka. It is pertinent to note that PM Modi is the first global leader hosted by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake after he took office in September last year.
Interestingly, this marks the 22nd International award conferred by a foreign nation to Prime Minister Modi. According to the Sri Lankan president’s office, the medal was specially instituted to recognise extraordinary global friendships, reflects the depth and warmth of India-Sri Lanka relations.
“The honour stands as a glowing tribute to PM Modi’s visionary leadership and his steadfast commitment to regional cooperation, cultural revival, and spiritual diplomacy,” the statement reads.
Why the visit is crucial?
Before the prime minister was honoured with the medal, he received a ceremonial guard of honour. While India is looking to strengthen energy and defence ties with Sri Lanka, Colombo is keen to attract foreign investments to stabilise the newly recovering economy, which was hit by a historic financial crisis in 2022. It is pertinent to note that during the Sri Lankan economic crisis, India provided $4 billion in financial assistance.
India is also one of Sri Lanka’s key bilateral lenders, which agreed to restructure about $1.36 billion in loans after the island nation defaulted on its debt in May 2022. “Prime Minister Modi’s visit aims to strengthen the longstanding ties between Sri Lanka and India,” the Sri Lankan president’s office said in a statement ahead of PM Modi’s visit.
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The visit will see pacts signed on key sectors such as energy, digitalisation, security, and healthcare, as well as agreements related to India’s debt restructuring assistance for Sri Lanka, it added. PM Modi’s visit came after Dissanayake paid a trip to New Delhi in December last year.
In light of this, the two leaders sat down for delegation-level talks in Colombo. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials were present at the meeting as well. The prime minister is on a state visit to Sri Lanka from April 4 to 6 at the invitation of the Sri Lankan president. Modi reached Colombo after concluding his visit to Thailand, where he attended the 6th edition of the BIMSTEC Summit.
In January, Dissanayake said the two were in talks on building an oil refinery there as a joint venture focusing on exports, domestic media reported. New Delhi-run Indian Oil Corp is already the second biggest fuel supplier after state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corp.
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