Colombo, Apr 22 (PTI) Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Sri Lanka on April 24 for an official visit, during which he will inaugurate a hydropower project funded by his country, the foreign ministry announced here on Monday.
Raisi, whose visit comes amidst the tensions in the Middle East, is currently on a three-day official visit to Pakistan, months after the two neighbours carried out tit-for-tat airstrikes against alleged terrorist hideouts on rival lands.
"President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr Ebrahim Raisi is scheduled to make an official bilateral visit to Sri Lanka at the invitation of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to jointly declare open the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project on 24 April 2024,” the foreign ministry said.
The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project, funded by Sri Lanka and Iran, is designed to generate and add 120 Megawatt electricity to Sri Lanka’s national grid and provide irrigation to approximately 25,000 acres of paddy lands in the southeastern part of the island nation, the statement said.
The ministry's announcement ended speculation about the Iranian president's visit to Sri Lanka due to Iran’s ongoing impasse with Israel.
Both Israel and Iran have carried out air strikes on each other in the flare-up.
Before embarking on his visit to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Raisi said one of the goals of the trip was strengthening economic and trade relations with Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the News First news portal reported.
"In line with the neighbourhood policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to take new steps in the development and promotion of relations with neighbouring countries,” he was quoted as saying in the report.
Raisi also expressed hope that his trip will be a turning point in improving the level of relations between Iran and Sri Lanka, the report said.