Sri Lankan FM meets NSA Ajeet Doval & Hardeep Singh Puri; discusses bilateral partnership

Sri Lankan Finance Minister B Rajapaksa on Thursday met NSA Ajit Doval and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on his second day of visit to India. Progressive discussions were held between India and Sri Lanka on strengthening bilateral partnerships in various fields. With Hardeep Singh Puri, the Sri Lankan Finance minister also discussed broad areas of mutual cooperation between the two nations. 

India-Sri Lanka relations 

This visit is Rajapaksa’s first official visit abroad since becoming the Finance Minister. It is to mention that the relationship between India and Sri Lanka is more than 2,500 years old and both sides have built upon a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction. According to an official press note, in recent years, the relations between two countries have been marked by close contacts at the highest political level, growing trade and investment, cooperation in the fields of development, education, culture and defence, as well as a broad understanding on major issues of international interest. 

Earlier this year, EAM S Jaishankar also visited Sri Lanka and made a strong pitch for the reconciliation of the Tamil community. He spoke out firmly in favour of Tamilians in Sri Lanka and reiterated India’s stand in support of the 13th Amendment, which entails greater representation for the community, as well as reaffirming the importance of the language.

In 2019, the Prime Ministers of the two countries held a virtual summit as well, during which the two sides agreed to further expand ties on a range of areas such as anti-terror cooperation, maritime security and trade and investment. They also spoke on the need to ensure the aspirations of the minority Tamils are addressed within a united Sri Lanka. Additionally, India and Sri Lanka also held a video conference meeting of the joint working group on fisheries and discussed the issues related to fishermen and the ways to overcome challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

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