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Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe to visit India during July 20-21
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit will be his first since he was elected to the island’s top post in July 2022
NEW DELHI: Forging greater economic and energy connectivity and integration is expected to top the agenda for Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India during July 20-21, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Wickremesinghe’s visit, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be the first by a top Sri Lankan leader since the island nation was hit by an unprecedented economic crisis last year. It will also be Wickremesinghe’s first trip to India since he was elected president in July 2022 after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka amid massive public protests.
India provided economic aid worth almost $4 billion, including lines of credit to purchase food, fuel and medicines, currency support and deferred payment of loans, to Sri Lanka last year so that the country could cope with its worst economic crisis in decades.
The Sri Lankan side has been working for greater integration with the economy of India, including greater Indian investments, trade settlement in Indian rupees and increasing the inflow of Indian tourists. The two sides are also close to concluding an agreement on linking their power transmission grids for energy trade, the people said.
The main day for Wickremesinghe’s official engagements in New Delhi will be July 21. Besides holding discussions with Modi and other Indian dignitaries on a range of issues, Wickremesinghe will meet his Indian counterpart Droupadi Murmu, the external affairs ministry said.
Sri Lanka is an important partner in India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and the visit will “reinforce the longstanding friendship between the two countries and explore avenues for enhanced connectivity and mutually beneficial cooperation across sectors”, the ministry said.
Foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra travelled to Sri Lanka on July 11 and held talks with his counterpart Aruni Wijewardane to prepare for Wickremesinghe’s visit, which comes as both countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Kwatra also met Sri Lankan foreign minister Ali Sabry and Wickremesinghe.
The two sides have also worked in recent months to overcome the impact of a Chinese surveillance vessel’s visit to Hambantota port last year. India and the US had opposed the visit of Yuan Wang 5, a vessel used by China’s People’s Liberation Army to track satellites and ballistic missiles, to Hambantota, which is controlled by the Chinese.
