New Delhi [India], September 1 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Sri Lanka from September 2-3 to review defence ties. During the visit, he will hold talks with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
During the meeting, the two sides will review defence ties between India and Sri Lanka, the Defence Ministry said in a press release. Rajnath Singh will also visit Nuwara Elia and Trincomalee in Sri Lanka.
"During the visit, Shri Rajnath Singh will hold talks with President & Defence Minister of Sri Lanka Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Mr Dinesh Gunawardena. The entire gamut of India’s defence ties with Sri Lanka will be reviewed during the meetings," the Defence Ministry said in the press release.
Rajnath Singh's visit will reiterate India's continued commitment to furthering the existing warm and friendly relations with Sri Lanka.
Defence Ministry in the press release said that Rajnath Singh's visit is an "important landmark in building strong bonds of friendship" between the two nations.
Earlier on August 11, Sri Lankan Finance Minister Shehan Semansinghe said that India came forward to help their country during tough times.
Semasinghe said, "India played a major role in Sri Lanka's recovery process and stabilization process. And I'm sure will play a major role in the growth of the economy, too. So we are thankful to the government of India as well as to the Indian people because India stepped in during the most crucial period of economic crisis. And I'm sure Indians also could be happy that Sri Lanka has recovered."
While appreciating the support of India in difficult times, Semasinghe said, "India helped us to get a good rating from IMF and that told the world that Srilanka is back in business."
He further said, "Past 3 months were extremely difficult for us. There was food shortage fuel shortage, Electricity cuts etc... After the EFF was approved this changed drastically. We are happy to say that we engage positively with our mutual creditors. We are happy that we have recovered and we are well on the positive roadmap of recovery and soon we will start growing."
He spoke about the role of the tourism sector in regaining economic stability in Sri Lanka and noted that their tourism sector is growing.
He added, "We want to prioritise our few sectors for investment, Energy sector is one the most prominent sectors, Renewable energy is also a key sector, PM Modi and President Wickremesinghe discussed this in their recent meeting. We are open to the whole world. We have learnt a lot from our crisis and we are sure that there won't be any issue with our debt."
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