External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived here on Friday on a day-long visit to meet with the Sri Lankan leadership, less than a fortnight after Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as the president of the island nation.
“Good to be in Colombo again. Look forward to my engagements with the Sri Lankan leadership today,” Jaishankar posted on X soon after his landing at the Colombo airport.
Jaishankar is the first foreign dignitary to visit Sri Lanka since the National People’s Power (NPP) government led by Dissanayake came to power on September 23. He was received at the airport by Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardena and the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha.
Jaishankar is expected to call on President Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, officials here said. During his visit, the minister is expected to further cement the bilateral relationship with the new NPP government in Colombo, they said.
Jaishankar is also set to discuss the Indian projects in Sri Lanka, underscoring their significance in the bilateral relationship between the two countries, the officials said. While in Opposition, Dissanayake had expressed his reservations about some of the Indian projects, especially on the sustainable energy projects run by the Adani Group.
In the run up to the election, Dissanayake had pledged to annul those projects if voted to power, claiming that the projects were inimical to Sri Lankan interests. Ahead of his departure, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi on Thursday said that Jaishankar will meet with the Sri Lankan leadership during his visit to Colombo.
“In keeping with India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and SAGAR outlook, the visit underlines the shared commitment of the two countries to further deepen the longstanding partnership for mutual benefit,” it said. In February, Jaishankar had invited Dissanayake to New Delhi for a familiarisation visit, officials here said.
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