India will stand with Sri Lanka in its efforts for post-Covid socio-economic recovery

Colombo, Oct 4 (FN Bureau) India will leave no stone unturned in mitigating the adverse impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on its socio-economic engagement with Sri Lanka and will stand together with Colombo in its efforts for post-Covid recovery, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday. In his remarks at the inauguration of Indian Development Cooperation Projects at Temple Trees here, Shringla said both India and Sri Lanka have seen major disruptions to their economies by the devastating Covid pandemic. “As we seek rapid socio-economic recovery for our respective countries, it is important to work together to strengthen our economic partnership and deepen our time-tested bilateral ties founded on the principles of mutual benefit, mutual understanding and a common purpose defined by good neighbourly relations,” he stressed. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris as well as a number of other Sri Lankan ministers were present on the occasion. Both Foreign Secretary Shringla and Foreign Minister Peiris jointly inaugurated four projects in the housing and education sectors.

He said they were dedicating 1,235 houses in the third phase of the Indian Housing Project which is spread across the country. The other projects, namely, the Model Housing Village at Vavuniya District, school building at Vadamaraddchi in Jaffna and the Saraswathy Central College building in Pussellwa, “reflect the people centric benefits of India’s development cooperation,” he said. Shringla stressed that these projects employ local companies and invariably use Sri Lankan material and labour in their execution. He hoped that in the coming months, the two sides will be able to complete some of the remaining projects like the Dambulla Cold Storage plant, trilingual school at Polonnaruwa and the School of Kandyan Dancing at Pallekale whose progress had been impeded by the restrictions imposed by Covid 19 and the attendant administrative challenges. He said the Government of India will also support the development of facilities for tourists and pilgrims at sites associated with the Ramayana circuit in Sri Lanka. “With the easing of the situation in Sri Lanka, it may be opportune for us to work on connectivity initiatives like the Jaffna to Chennai flight, ferry services between Karaikal and Kankesanthurai and Dhanushkodi and Talaimanar and the Buddhist corridor with the new international airport at Kushinagar,” he added. Earlier in his speech, he said he had held a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa “an ardent friend of India and a steady source of support for the deepening of the India-Sri Lanka engagement”. “I look forward to calling-on His Excellency President Gotabaya Rajapaksa whose steadfast commitment to the India-Sri Lanka bilateral relationship is well known,” he added.

He said he was happy to see the progress in the bilateral engagement across different spheres, and referred to the high-level visits, in particular, the state visits of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in November 2019 and February 2020, which he said “have given fresh impetus to the bilateral relations”. He said the Virtual Bilateral Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in September 2020 “was an important milestone as it set the template for the future evolution of our cooperation in fields such as defence and security, health, tourism, trade and commerce and people to people ties”. Shringla said in the past one year, India has buttressed its credentials of being a net security provider and first responder in HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief) situations in the Indian Ocean region. “India was happy to respond to Sri Lanka’s requests in recent cases of fire and marine pollution in its waters.

The Indian Navy also deployed its assets for rapid delivery of medical grade oxygen to Sri Lanka in August to deal with its COVID situation,” he said. “During the Covid pandemic period, India kept its air space open for travel for specific and urgent medical needs of Sri Lanka,” he added. Earlier, during his meeting with Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris the two held discussions on early conclusion of project proposals and enhancing connectivity that would help accelerate Sri Lanka’s economic recovery. He also held delegation level talks with Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Admiral (Retd) Prof. Jayanath Colombage during which the two sides reviewed their bilateral cooperation. He also called on the Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. On his meeting with the Finance Minister, the Indian High Commission said the two held talks on economic and commercial ties and post-pandemic economic recovery by taking forward joint projects of mutual benefit. The four projects in the housing and education sectors, “completed with Indian assistance, exemplify India’s strong and multifaceted development cooperation profile in Sri Lanka,” the Indian High Commission said.