President and Indian Foreign Secy. discuss economic cooperation

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar with President Maithripala Sirisena

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, who arrived in Sri Lanka with a business delegation on Saturday for a three-day official visit, met with President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday.

Foreign Secretary Jaishankar, on an economic diplomacy initiative, held discussions with President Sirisena on the implementation of various initiatives and economic cooperation projects decided by the leadership of the two countries. Potential Indo-Lanka partnerships in areas such as transport, energy and infrastructure were at the centre of the discussions.

The Indian Foreign Secretary’s visit is aimed at exploring the potential to promote Indian business in Sri Lanka and investment opportunities.

Jaishankar is accompanied by an official delegation of top officials from public sector companies such as GAIL, NTPC, IOC and RITES and a team from the Confederation of Indian Industries.

On Monday, the visiting Indian delegation will hold sector level meetings with their Sri Lankan counterparts, official sources said. On the agenda are discussions on likely partnerships in the power sector using Liquefied Natural Gas, developing the Trincomalee Oil Farm and expansion of the airports in Palaly in the Jaffna Peninsula and in Colombo, among other projects. However, the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) between Sri Lanka and India was not on the agenda, sources said.

Jaishankar will call on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe today.