Sri Lanka and India exchanged agreements on Wednesday for Indian rupee-denominated lines of credit worth the equivalent of USD 350 million, following a meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Colombo.
The credit lines form part of the USD 450 million reconstruction package India extended to Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said. They will support reconstruction, infrastructure development and procurement requirements arising from the cyclone’s damage.
Discussions between Misri and the President covered matters of mutual interest and a review of key bilateral projects, including India-assisted development work in Sri Lanka, according to the High Commission.
A fuller day than the curtain-raiser suggested
The exchange gives substance to a visit that had been announced without a published agenda. When Misri arrived in Colombo on Wednesday morning, no joint statement had been issued and no agreements had been flagged — a one-day trip at Foreign Secretary level more often reviews progress than concludes new instruments.
Misri also met Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, with both sides reviewing cooperation across priority sectors, and held separate talks with Foreign Secretary Aruni Ranaraja on regional and global developments. Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha attended the meeting with Herath.
At the meeting with Ranaraja, Misri reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s central role in India’s Neighbourhood First policy and in what New Delhi calls its Mahasagar vision for the Indian Ocean region.
The remaining USD 100 million of the announced reconstruction package was not addressed in Wednesday’s reporting, and neither government published the sectoral allocation of the credit lines.
Sources: Ada Derana, Daily Mirror, NewsFirst, Ada Derana.
