COLOMBO : The Foreign Secretary of India, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in Sri Lanka this Saturday evening on October 02) for a four-day official visit.
On arrival, the visiting official was received by Lanka’s foreign secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay.
He is undertaking this visit to the island nation from October 02 – 05 at the invitation of his Sri Lankan counterpart, Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage.
The visit will contribute towards consolidating the longstanding multifaceted relations and enhance bilateral partnerships between two countries. Apart from the bilateral discussion with the Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary, Shringla is scheduled to call on the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and the Foreign Minister.
Visiting Foreign Secretary is also expected to visit Kandy, Trincomalee and Jaffna during his stay in Sri Lanka.
This will be his first visit to Sri Lanka since assumption of office as the Foreign Secretary of India.
The visit of Shringla will provide an opportunity to review bilateral ties, progress of ongoing bilateral projects and ongoing cooperation to tackle Covid related disruptions, the Indian High Commission here said on Friday.
His visit came days after Ahmedabad-headquartered Indian multinational conglomerate Adani Group entered into an agreement with Lanka government owned Port Authority to develop the Colombo Port’s West International Container Terminal.
The USD 700 million Build-Operate-Transfer deal is the largest foreign investment ever in the port sector of the island nation, the Lankan government has said.
Announcing Shringla’s visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said Lanka occupies a central place in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and Shringla’s visit signifies the importance both the countries attach to strengthening their close and cordial relations in all spheres of mutual interest.
His visit is taking place at a time when Lanka is reeling under economic hardships and he is likely to assess whether India could extend any assistance to the island nation to tide over the situation.
It is learnt that matters relating to the building of the western container terminal at the Colombo port are also likely to figure during the foreign secretary’s visit to the neighbouring country.
In his talks in Colombo, Sringla is also expected to reiterate India’s views on the long-pending Tamil issue.
India has been consistently calling upon Sri Lanka to fulfil its commitments to protect the interests of the Tamil community and preserve the island nation’s character as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society.
The Tamil community in Sri Lanka has been demanding the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that provides for devolution of power to it. The 13th amendment was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987.
