President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met Indian Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh at the Presidential Secretariat this morning (09), during the Indian Defence Minister’s official visit to Sri Lanka.
The Indian Defence Minister is visiting Sri Lanka with the aim of further strengthening cooperation between the two countries. It is also noteworthy that this is the first official visit to Sri Lanka by an Indian Defence Minister in 38 years, according to a statement issued by the President’s Media Division (PMD).
The President and the Indian Defence Minister held extensive discussions on further strengthening the existing defence, economic, maritime and regional partnerships between India and Sri Lanka, as well as the historical ties between the two countries, in a mutually beneficial manner.
In particular, the President briefed the Indian Defence Minister on the national programme recently launched by Sri Lanka to combat drug trafficking. He stated that, as the Indian Ocean has become a hub for drug trafficking, Sri Lanka expects India’s fullest support in its efforts to combat the illicit drugs menace. The President also expressed confidence that India would extend its fullest support towards extraditing Sri Lankan drug traffickers currently serving prison sentences in India.
The President also expressed his appreciation for the support extended by India whenever Sri Lanka faced difficulties in recent times, the statement said.
The President stated that Sri Lanka would continue to extend its support towards maintaining peace in the Indian Ocean region. He emphasised that Sri Lanka makes decisions taking into consideration both national and regional interests, and that, as a sovereign state, Sri Lanka enters into various agreements with countries around the world while remaining mindful of regional security.
The Indian Defence Minister particularly appreciated Sri Lanka’s contribution towards maintaining the Indian Ocean region as a peaceful zone free from conflict.
The President also expressed his appreciation for the contribution made by the Indian military towards restoring and developing infrastructure in Sri Lanka damaged by Cyclone Ditwah. He expressed confidence that the new agreements concluded today would contribute to enhancing the capabilities of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces as well as further strengthening defence cooperation between the two countries.
The Indian Defence Minister stated that Sri Lanka holds a special and important place in India’s “Neighbourhood First” foreign policy, reflecting the unique and close relationship between the two countries. He also appreciated the steps taken over the past two years under the leadership of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to further strengthen bilateral relations.
Special attention was also paid to the fisheries issue. Discussions focused on securing India’s support to safeguard the principal livelihood of Sri Lankan fishermen and on the two countries working together to resolve the issue, the PMD said.
Subsequently, three newly signed agreements were exchanged in the presence of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh, marking an important step towards further expanding cooperation between the two countries.
The three agreements - an agreement to upgrade L70 guns for the Sri Lanka Air Force; an agreement on academic cooperation between India’s National Defence College and Sri Lanka’s National Defence College; and an agreement on bilateral cooperation between the Sri Lanka Cadet Corps and the Indian Cadet Corps - were exchanged by Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd), and High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha.
Meanwhile, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh also joined remotely to open three Bailey bridges installed in the Kurunegala and Batticaloa districts with a grant from the Government of India, it added.
The Bailey bridges constructed along the Pansiyagama–Kurunegala, Kabellawa–Kurunegala and Palugamam–Batticaloa roads were handed over for public use as part of the rehabilitation assistance programme provided by India to restore essential road connectivity following Cyclone Ditwah.
Deputy Minister of Defence, Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd); Secretary to the President, Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake; Chief of Staff to the President, Prabath Chandrakeerthi; Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Roshan Gamage; and Acting Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Indika Wijegunawardena; as well as Indian Air Force Deputy Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant General Sandeep Jain, and Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Prasanna Shrivastava, together with a high-level delegation comprising senior officials from India’s Ministries of Defence and External Affairs, also attended the occasion.
--PMD--
