Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will embark on a two-day visit to India on July 21. During his visit, Wickremesinghe is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said officials on Sunday. This will be his first visit to India after being appointed President of the cash-strapped country last year after the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a people's uprising in July. He was appointed President for the balance term of Rajapaksa till September 2024. To work out all the arrangements for his trip to New Delhi, India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra will arrive in Sri Lanka early next week, as cited by news agency PTI.
As mentioned earlier, officials said Wickremesinghe is expected to meet Prime Minister Modi and will also finalise the implementation of several Indian projects related to power and energy, agriculture, and maritime issues in the island nation ahead of his departure for New Delhi.
Others who will accompany him on the trip include Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry and Chief of President’s Staff Sagala Ratnayake, the Daily Mirror newspaper said, as cited by PTI.
Wickremesinghe's visit to India will happen at a time when Sri Lanka’s bankrupt economy has shown "tentative signs of improvement." Earlier in June following his official visit to the debt-trapped island nation, International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director Kenji Okamura said, “Sri Lanka’s economy is showing tentative signs of improvement, in part due to the implementation of critical policy actions. “
However, he also said the economic recovery remains challenging. “Now, more than ever, it is essential to continue the reform momentum under strong ownership by both the authorities and the Sri Lankan people,” said Okamura, as quoted by PTI.
Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe has introduced many painful economic reforms to revive Sri Lanka's economy. The country was forced to declare its first-ever credit default in mid-April last year. And it secured a bailout from the IMF of USD 2.9 billion in March this year, spanning over 4 years subject to reforms being put in place.