The nation’s leader rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as Colombo balances ties with neighbouring giant India and its biggest lender, China.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake welcomed Modi – the first foreign dignitary to visit Colombo since the leftist leader swept elections last year – with a 19-gun salute.
“We believe that our security interests are aligned,” Modi said during a televised ceremony from Dissanayake’s office in the capital.
“Our security is interdependent and interconnected.”
A five-year defence cooperation agreement provides training of Sri Lankan military personnel in India as well as information and technology sharing.
Dissanayake applauded what he called “India’s rise as a world power, not just a regional power”.
The two leaders also celebrated the start of construction of a 120-megawatt solar power project, developed as a joint venture between the two nations.
The solar plant, located in the island’s northeastern Trincomalee district, had been stalled for years but was reinvigorated with New Delhi’s backing.
Modi, who praised his “spectacular welcome” to Sri Lanka after arriving in Colombo late on Friday evening, was given an honour guard parade in the capital’s Independence Square.
Dissanayake’s first foreign visit was to New Delhi in December, but he followed that with a visit to Beijing in January, underscoring Sri Lanka’s delicate balancing act between the two powers.
China has emerged as Sri Lanka’s largest single bilateral creditor, accounting for more than half of its US$14bil bilateral debt at the time the island defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2022.
Beijing was also the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka, a move that cleared the way for the island to emerge from that year’s economic meltdown.
Colombo also signed an agreement announced in January with a Chinese state-owned company to invest US$3.7bil on an oil refinery in the island’s south.
It would be Sri Lanka’s largest single foreign investment and is seen as crucial for the island’s economy.
Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka comes after a summit in Thailand and meetings with leaders of regional nations.
He also held talks with the interim leader of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, the first such meeting since a revolution in Dhaka ousted New Delhi’s long-term ally Sheikh Hasina and soured relations. — AFP
