Sushma Swaraj hold talks with Wickremesinghe on investment in India, SEZs

Colombo: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday called on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who sought Indian investment and offered partnership in setting up a Special Economic Zone besides briefing her on latest political developments in the country. Swaraj, who arrived in Colombo on Friday on her second visit to the country within a year, held talks with Wickremesinghe at the Prime Minister’s Office ‘Temple Trees’, and the two leaders had a “fruitful exchange of views”. [caption id=“attachment_2614556” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sushma Swaraj. PTI[/caption] During their 50-minute long meeting, the Prime Minister sought Indian investment in Sri Lanka and proposed partnership in setting up an SEZ in Trincomalee, officials said. “Their talks began with the discussion on the Indo-Lanka Joint Commission meeting and the Prime Minister said this is a very important forum for the two sides to advance in bilateral partnership in all areas,” they said. Wickremesinghe also proposed to make the Joint Commission meeting an annual affair. The two leaders also talked about state university linkages. The joint commission was set up in 1992 as a mechanism to address issues of bilateral cooperation. The last meeting of the Joint Commission was held in New Delhi in January 2013. Wickremesinghe briefed Swaraj on the latest political developments in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister had last month said his government was ready to devolve power to minority Tamils under a new Constitution, aimed at resolving the ethnic conflict and achieving reconciliation with Tamils. Swaraj, who arrived here today on a two-day visit, was received by her Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera at the airport. The two leaders will co-chair the 9th Joint Commission meeting to discuss key bilateral and regional issues today. The talks will cover the entire gamut of relationship pertaining to economic cooperation, trade, power and energy, technical and maritime cooperation, social, cultural and educational matters, science and technology, defence cooperation, health, civil aviation, tourism and people-to- people contact. PTI