G20 podium
Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with visiting Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 21 largely focusing on boosting overall economic and strategic cooperation. Wickremesinghe arrived here on a two-day visit.
India and Sri Lanka also signed five agreement and adopted a vision document for economic partnership. PM Modi said the vision is to strengthen the maritime, air, energy and people- to- people connectivity between both the countries.
PM Modi hoped that Sri Lanka will fulfill the aspirations of the Tamils living in the island nation, including implementation of the thirteenth amendment and conduct the provincial council elections. He also hoped that Sri Lanka will ensure a life of respect and dignity for the Tamil community.
PM Modi said, “a stable, secure and prosperous Sri Lanka is not only in India’s interest, but in the interest of the entire Indian Ocean region”, Wickremesinghe expressed his government’s “profound appreciation” for the support that India extended to Sri Lanka over the last year that he described as the “most challenging period in Sri Lanka’s modern history”.
Addressing media after bilateral talks between PM Modi and Wickremesinghe, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said the agreements include a Memorandum of Understanding on renewable energy and Memorandum of Cooperation for economic development projects in Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka.
He said another key outcome is an agreement between NIPL and Lanka Pay for UPI application acceptance in Sri Lanka.
NSA Ajit Doval called on Wickremesinghe and is understood to have discussed security cooperation between the two countries.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also called on the visiting leader and discussed various bilateral issues.
