Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumar Dissanayake on Saturday during his visit to Colombo.
Issuing a joint statement following the meeting, PM Modi said he hoped the Sri Lankan government will fulfil the aspirations of Tamil people in the island country.
He also said that New Delhi expects the Colombo will “work in the direction of full implementation of the constitution, and fulfil their commitment of provisional council elections.”
The two sides signed seven Memorandums of Understanding after the bilateral talks including an ambitious defence cooperation pact. The two countries signed an MoU to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub. Another agreement was inked to facilitate New Delhi’s multi-sectoral grant assistance to Sri Lanka’s eastern region.
During the joint statement, Modi noted that it was his fourth trip to the neighbouring nation and referred to President Dissanayake’s decision to choose India for his maiden foreign visit.
“This reflects the depth of our bilateral ties. Under our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and SAGAR vision, Sri Lanka holds a special place. In the past four months since President Dissanayake visited India, there has been remarkable progress in our cooperation,” Modi said.
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Regional Security, Fishermen’s Issues
The two leaders discussed regional security with Dissanayake reaffirming “Sri Lanka’s stand that it will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability.”
On the fishermen’s issue, the two leaders agreed on a humanitarian approach as PM Modi said, “We should release them quickly and give them the boats, we also discussed reconciliation…”
President Dissanayake said he sought PM Modi’s intervention to take measures to stop the practice and curb illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing…”
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