‘Relations between Sri Lanka and India have never been stronger’: envoy

Relations between Sri Lanka and India have never been stronger, according to the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha. 

Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha has also described Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country as significant, stating that it would add a new agenda to the bilateral relationship. 

Indian Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to arrive in Colombo later this evening on a three-day official visit. 

Prime Minister Modi’s visit comes at the invitation of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who visited India in December last year as his maiden foreign visit after assuming office. 

PM Modi will be accompanied by India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar. 

The official welcoming ceremony is scheduled to take place tomorrow (05) at Independence Square in Colombo.

Speaking regarding the visit, High Commissioner Jha has told ANI, “It is a very important visit. Our relationship today is on an upswing, and Prime Minister Modi will be coming as the first foreign guest under the new government. You would recall that last year, in December, President Dissanayake visited India as his first foreign destination. So, this is a very, very important visit. We are essentially looking at taking forward existing understandings and adding a new agenda to the relationship.” 

Discussing bilateral ties and expected outcomes, the Indian envoy said, “We are looking at a very wide-ranging agenda. When President Dissanayake visited Delhi, the Prime Minister highlighted three pillars of our partnership: connectivity, energy, and digitisation. We will have agreements in these areas. There will also be some agreements in the health sector, and we are working on a framework MoU in defence cooperation.” 

He further noted that relations between the two nations are in very good shape. 

Prime Minister Modi will have official engagements in Colombo tomorrow (05) while he will visit Anuradhapura on Sunday (06).

--With inputs from agencies