New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe reached India on Thursday on his maiden two-day visit since he assumed office. The Ministry of External Affairs tweeted, “Warm welcome to President @RW_UNP of Sri Lanka on his maiden visit to India since assumption of the Office of President. Received by @MOS_MEA at the airport. The visit will further boost the multi-pronged India-Sri Lanka partnership.”
"Marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the President is scheduled to meet Indian President Smt. Droupadi Murmu and hold discussions with PM Narendra Modi and other dignitaries during his visit to enhance bilateral relations and explore areas of mutual interests,” the President's Media Office had said.
Ahead of his visit, Wickremesinghe had assured the Tamil parties that the proposed anti-terrorism law would be reviewed, amid stiff resistance from the opposition parties. The new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) will replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, which was introduced as a temporary measure to counter the campaign of separatist violence by Tamil minority militant groups in 1979.
Earlier in a statement in New Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry had said that Sri Lanka is an important partner in India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and Vision SAGAR.
"The visit will reinforce the longstanding friendship between the two countries and explore avenues for enhanced connectivity and mutually beneficial cooperation across sectors," the MEA statement said.
The agenda of Wickremesinghe’s visit, that aims to advance and consolidate the bilateral relations between the island nation and India, also includes development initiatives in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, agreements with India on projects focused on renewable energy, water supply, infrastructure development, investment promotion zones and the tourism sector.
It is to be noted that this marks Wickremesinghe’s first visit to India after being appointed the President of the country, that was reeling under severe economic crisis last year, following the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a people's uprising in July. Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis last year, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves.
According to a PTI report, President Wickremesinghe, also Sri Lanka’s finance minister, last week said that the country would want to see the Indian rupee used as much as the US dollar.