The Indian High Commission announced on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka later this year. However, the exact dates are yet to be confirmed by both parties.
“We are in the process of working out a propitious timing for the visit,” Santosh Jha, the Indian High Commissioner, told reporters.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake invited Modi during his two-day visit to New Delhi in mid-December.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi File Photo/AFP
New Delhi was Dissanayake's first stop after assuming the presidency in September.
Dr. S. Jaishankar, India's External Affairs Minister, was the first foreign dignitary to visit Colombo following Dissanayake's election.
Prime Minister Modi had visited Sri Lanka twice between 2015 and 2017.
Dissanayake is expected to visit China soon, though the dates for this trip have not yet been announced.
PM Modi’s last visit to Sri Lanka was in 2017
Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka for the UN International Vesak Day celebrations and to address the Indian-origin Tamils in the up-country regions marked a significant milestone in strengthening bilateral relations. This was his second visit to Sri Lanka in just three years. In March 2015, the Prime Minister had previously visited the conflict-affected Northern Province, home to the majority of Sri Lankan Tamils.
The current visit was set against the backdrop of two key developments. India’s launch of the South Asia Satellite aimed at enhancing cooperation among South Asian countries, with a focus on improving the economic and social conditions of the people. Sri Lanka, one of the South Asian nations that strongly supported the initiative, praised the launch of the South Asia Satellite on May 5th.
The President of Sri Lanka said that “it is a historic milestone to accomplish progress on cooperation and development among SAARC countries”.
Secondly, this visit occurred amid the recent protests in Sri Lanka against proposed Indian investments in the country. A significant portion of the Sinhala community remains cautious about Indian investments for several reasons, including the competitive political climate in Sri Lanka, which fueled public opposition to foreign investments; the historical context of India-Sri Lanka relations, shaped by internal conflict; and the generally negative perception of India among the majority population, influenced by the cultural and religious ties the Tamil minority shares with their ethnic counterparts in India’s Tamil Nadu. As a result, the visit was a crucial step in engaging with the majority community and alleviating their concerns about India-Sri Lanka bilateral cooperation.
(This Article was originally published by First Post and ICWA)
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