India and Sri Lanka on Monday held bilateral discussions to expand their partnerships to conclude a defence cooperation pact and strengthen ties in the energy sector by establishing electricity grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines. The two governments agreed to take a humanitarian and livelihood-based approach to solve the fishermen's dispute arising out of competition for marine resources.
Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake is on a three-day visit to India. Dissayanake, along with his team of ministers, landed in Delhi on December 15 on his first foreign trip after taking charge as the President.
Anura discussed with Prime Minister Modi a wide range of issues to expand the partnership between the two countries for a shared future. During the discussions, it was reaffirmed that the India-Sri Lanka bilateral partnership will be underpinned by deep-rooted cultural and civilisational ties, geographical proximity and people-to-people relations. During the discussions, it was decided that physical, digital and energy connectivity would be the key pillar of cooperation between the two countries apart from economic partnership.
On the energy front, it was decided that India, Sri Lanka and the UAE would cooperate to implement a multi-product pipeline from India to Sri Lanka for the supply of affordable and reliable energy. It was also decided to take steps towards the implementation of the solar power project in Sampur and augment its capacity as per the requirements of Sri Lanka. It was also decided to supply LNG from India to Sri Lanka, establish high-capacity power grid interconnection between India and Sri Lanka, develop Trincomalee as a regional energy and industrial hub based on the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, and to develop the Trincomalee Tank Farms.
After the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the two sides decided to emphasise investment-led growth and connectivity for India-Sri Lanka economic partnership. “Acknowledging the increased political interactions in the last decade and their contribution towards deepening the bilateral ties, both leaders agreed to further intensify political engagements at leadership and ministerial levels. The two leaders also underscored the importance of regular parliamentary level exchanges to promote democratic values and share expertise on their institutional best practices,” said a joint statement titled ‘Fostering Partnerships for a Shared Future’ issued after the meeting between the two leaders.
It was also discussed to expand the partnership between the two countries to soon conclude a defence cooperation pact. “Explore the possibility of concluding a framework agreement on defence cooperation; foster cooperation in hydrography; provision of defence platforms and assets to augment Sri Lanka’s defence capabilities; intensify collaboration through joint exercises, maritime surveillance, and defence dialogue and exchanges; extend assistance to strengthen capabilities of Sri Lanka on disaster mitigation, relief and rehabilitation, including through training, joint exercises and sharing of best practices; and enhance capacity building and training for Sri Lankan defence forces and conduct tailor-made training programmes, wherever required,” the joint statement said.
On the Tamil question, Modi expressed India's hopes that the Sri Lankan government will fulfil the aspirations of the community. While Dissanayake thanked Modi and India for the debt restructuring support and extending credit lines, the prime minister said that India has so far given 5 billion USD worth of credit lines and grants.
Dissanayake and his team are expected to visit Bodh Gaya on Tuesday, before returning to Colombo.
