





RUZAIK FAROOK
COLOMBO : In his maiden official foreign visit, Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake reached India on Sunday, Dec.(15) around 5:30 p.m via the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.
On arrival, he was welcomed by India’s Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Dr. S. Murugan, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, Additional Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region Puneet Agrawal, Chief of Protocol Anshuman Gaur, and other diplomatic officialsThe Indian media gave significant coverage to the President’s arrival. Around major roundabouts in New Delhi, billboards featuring the images of both President Dissanayake and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were prominently displayed.
Later at night on Sunday evening ,President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is scheduled to hold discussions with India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. S. Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor, Shri Ajit Doval.
Accompanying the President on this visit are Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism Vijitha Herath, and Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Prof. Anil Jayantha Fernando
President Dissanayake is also scheduled to participate in a business event in New Delhi aimed at “promoting investment and commercial linkages between India and Sri Lanka” and later, travel to Bodh Gaya, as part of the visit, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The Sri Lankan leader’s visit to India assumes significance in the wake of his party’s resounding victory, with a two-thirds majority, in the recent parliamentary election and amid his government’s effort to rebuild the country’s crisis-hit economy. Dissanayake will also travel to Beijing soon, his government has said.
In the meetings scheduled in New Delhi during his visit, bilateral development projects and potential Indian investments are likely to be discussed, in addition to debt treatment as part of Sri Lanka’s current IMF programme. India’s proposals for greater connectivity with Sri Lanka are expected to be reviewed. Energy sector cooperation and the persisting fisheries conflict in the Palk Strait Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu are frequently arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters are also on the agenda, official sources said.