Modi's Sri Lanka Visit: A Milestone in Strengthening Bilateral Ties

The following are excerpts from Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Santosh Jha's Interview on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State Visit to Sri Lanka (April 4-6, 2025)

- Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha

PRIME MINISTER SHRI NARENDRA MODI IS LANDING HERE TODAY. COULD YOU SHARE WITH OUR READERS AS TO THE OBJECTIVE OF THE VISIT?

The visit of the Prime Minister comes in quick succession after President Dissanayake visit to India in December 2024. You would have noted that President Dissanayake chose India as his first foreign destination, and the Indian Prime Minister is the first foreign leader to be invited by Sri Lanka after the new government. This in itself attests to the special and unique nature of the partnership between our two countries.

The visit of the Prime Minister is part of our ongoing high-level engagement. That it is regular is only a natural course of things between close neighbours.

This will be the Prime Minister's fourth visit to Sri Lanka in the last ten years.

The visit will provide an opportunity to advance and consolidate existing areas of ongoing cooperation and to explore new areas of our mutually beneficial partnership. It will take forward the very comprehensive Joint Statement that was adopted during President Disanayaka's visit to India.

We are likely to see important outcomes in areas of investments and connectivity, digitisation, energy, and security and defence. It will be an important landmark and raise our engagement to ever higher levels.

HOW DO YOU VIEW THE CURRENT ENGAGEMENT AND STATE OF RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO NEIGHBOURS?

Our relations with Sri Lanka have never been better before. They are based on our shared aspirations for prosperity and development to be built on the foundation of shared security.

Our relations are growing and diversifying into new and wider range of areas: first is infrastructure and connectivity; second, deeper economic engagement and energy security; third, upgrading trade and investment ties; fourth, cultural and educational cooperation; and finally, the fifth, tourism and people-to-people contacts.