President Dissanayake meets Indian PM

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has held bilateral discussions with the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi.

Present at the discussion were Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vijitha Herath and his Indian counterpart Dr. S. Jaishankar.

During the meeting, the Sri Lankan leader assured that the island nation would not allow the country to be used in “a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India”. 

“I have also given an assurance to the Prime Minister of India that we will not allow our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India. The cooperation with India will certainly flourish and I want to reassure our continued support for India,” Dissanayake said after the interaction.

PM Modi said: “We completely agree that our security interests are interlinked. We have decided to finalise the Defence Cooperation Agreement soon.”

“Cooperation on hydrography has also been agreed upon. We believe that the Colombo Security Conclave is an important platform for regional peace, security and development. Under this, cooperation will be enhanced on topics like maritime security, counter-terrorism, cyber-security, fight against smuggling and organised crime, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The people-to-people relations between India and Sri Lanka are linked to our civilisations,” he added.

Meanwhile, both the nations have signed several memorandums of understanding (MoUs).

At a joint press conference, PM Modi also highlighted India’s robust support to Sri Lanka’s development.

“India has so far provided 5 billion dollars in line of credit and grant assistance to Sri Lanka. We have cooperation in all 25 districts of Sri Lanka, and the selection of our projects is always based on the development priorities of the partner countries,” he said.

Highlighting new initiatives under India’s developmental cooperation with Sri Lanka, PM Modi said: “From next year, monthly scholarships will be given to 200 students in the universities of Jaffna and Eastern Province. In the next five years, 1500 civil servants of Sri Lanka will be trained in India.”

President Dissanayake, on his maiden foreign visit since assuming office, was accorded a grand ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, the official residence of the Indian President, earlier today (16).

Later in the day, President Dissanayake is scheduled to meet with Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, as well as hold talks with Indian President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.  

The agenda also includes the signing of key Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), extensive bilateral discussions, and a joint press briefing.