Indian External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar congratulated Vijitha Herath on his re-appointment as the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.

In a post on X, Jaishankar said, “Felicitations to Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Vijitha Herath on his re-appointment”.

The Indian External Affairs Minister noted that he looks forward to working together and further strengthening the “historic bonds of friendship” and deepening the wide-ranging partnership, India and Sri Lanka have, for the mutual benefit of each other.

In the recently concluded elections, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s leftist coalition registered a landslide victory, according to official results announced by the country’s election commission.

Dissanayake, needed a clear majority to fulfil his promises and his National People’s Power (NPP) coalition secured a two-thirds majority in the 225-member parliament, winning 159 seats, whereas, opposition leader Premadasa’s party won 35 seats.

Dissanayake won the presidential elections held in September this year. With his coalition holding just three seats in the outgoing parliament, the 55-year-old leader of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) called snap legislative elections in search of a new mandate.

The parliamentary poll mandate enables Dissanayake to ease punishing austerity measures in crisis-stricken Sri Lanka.

EAM Jaishankar had paid a visit to Sri Lanka, earlier in October this year.

Sri Lanka has been struggling to recover from its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 following economic mismanagement by successive governments, the COVID-19 pandemic and 2019 Easter bombings.

In his interactions with Foreign Minister Herath, EAM had conveyed India’s strong commitment to advance bilateral cooperation based on its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and SAGAR outlook. In this context, he assured that India’s ongoing development assistance to Sri Lanka through projects of Sri Lankan priority will be continued.

Source: ANI
--Agencies