PM Modi, Sri Lankan President discuss fishermen’s livelihood issues
India and Sri Lanka on Monday held bilateral discussions to expand their partnerships to conclude a defence cooperation pact and strengthen ties in the energy sector by establishing electricity grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines.
The two governments agreed to take a humanitarian and livelihood-based approach to solve the fishermen’s dispute arising out of competition for marine resources.
Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake is on a three-day visit to India. Dissanayake, along with his team of ministers, landed in Delhi on December 15 on his first foreign trip after taking charge as the President.
Anura discussed with Prime Minister Modi a wide range of issues to expand the partnership between the two countries for a shared future.
During the discussions, it was reaffirmed that the India-Sri Lanka bilateral partnership will be underpinned by deep-rooted cultural and civilisational ties, geographical proximity and people-to-people relations.
During the discussions, it was decided that physical, digital and energy connectivity would be the key pillar of cooperation between the two countries apart from economic partnership.
On the energy front, it was decided that India, Sri Lanka and the UAE would cooperate to implement a multi-product pipeline from India to Sri Lanka for the supply of affordable and reliable energy.
It was also decided to take steps towards the implementation of the solar power project in Sampur and augment its capacity as per the requirements of Sri Lanka.
It was also decided to supply LNG from India to Sri Lanka, establish high-capacity power grid interconnection between India and Sri Lanka, develop Trincomalee as a regional energy and industrial hub based on the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, and to develop the Trincomalee Tank Farms.