 "Sri Lanka's President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, December 16, 2024. File Image / Reuters")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a grand ceremonial welcome in Sri Lanka shortly after he landed in Colombo on Saturday. Upon arrival, the prime minister received the guard of honour, marking the commencement of his three-day visit to India’s southern neighbours. During the visit, the prime minister will aim to strengthen bilateral ties, with anticipated agreements in defence, health, trade, and energy sectors.
He is scheduled to hold discussions with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. After landing in Colombo, the prime minister also received a warm welcome from the Indian community in Sri Lanka. It is pertinent to note that Modi is the first global leader hosted by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake after he took office in September last year.
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 economic crisis, India provided $4 billion in financial assistance to Sri Lanka.
Why PM Modi’s visit is crucial
India is also one of 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.
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.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAt that time, the leaders discussed investments in Sri Lanka and plans for India to supply liquefied natural gas to Sri Lanka and help link power grids. The talks also focused on the development of a regional energy and industrial hub in eastern Trincomalee. In January, Dissanayake said the two were in talks on building an oil refinery there as a joint venture focusing on exports, domestic media said. New Delhi-run Indian Oil Corp is already the second biggest fuel supplier after state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corp.
With inputs from Reuters.