EAM's visit to Lanka underlines agility of India's development cooperation p'ship

The recent visit of India's External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, to Sri Lanka and his consequential meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe have significantly bolstered bilateral cooperation. The Indian High Commission highlighted the extensive scope and flexibility of India's development cooperation partnership with Sri Lanka.

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Jaishankar's visit to Colombo involved his participation in the 23rd Council of Ministers' meeting and the 25th Committee of Senior Officials of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) on October 11. This visit, his second in 2023, was strategically timed, coinciding with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

During the visit, Jaishankar engaged in discussions with President Wickremesinghe, addressing a wide range of bilateral areas of concern. Their conversations were a follow-up to the bilateral economic partnership vision statement issued during the President of Sri Lanka's visit to India in July 2023. The vision statement emphasized the necessity of strengthening multiple dimensions of connectivity, including trade, people-to-people ties, and energy partnerships, as outlined in the statement. Both leaders agreed to expedite priority measures to achieve the outlined goals within the stipulated timeframe.