External Affairs Minister of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who was on a one-day official visit to Sri Lanka, met with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Foreign Minister M.U.M. Ali Sabry, PC for bilateral talks, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday (20) afternoon.
This was Dr. Jaishankar’s first bilateral visit after being reappointed External Affairs Minister following the recent General Elections in India.
The bilateral discussions at the Foreign Ministry centered on a range of issues of mutual interest, including Economic and Development Cooperation, Cooperation in Regional and Multilateral for a, as well as cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries.
Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardane and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were associated with the Foreign Minister in the bilateral talks. Yesterday morning, the visiting Indian External Affairs Minister was received on arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport by State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya. Prior to the bilateral discussions at the Foreign Ministry, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar paid courtesy calls on President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
At President’s House, Minister Jaishankar joined President Wickremesinghe in virtually handing over 48 houses, 24 each in Colombo and Trincomalee, built under the Model Village Housing Project and 106 houses in three upcountry estates, built under Phase III of the Indian Housing Project, with funding from India.
On this occasion, the Indian External Affairs Minister also virtually commissioned the Sri Lanka Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), established under a grant from India.
Minister Jaishankar was accompanied by a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the High Commissioner of India in Colombo.
