: Monday, 07 April 2025 08:27 am
Colombo, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup winning cricket players during a visit to Colombo. During this time, he interacted with Sri Lankan cricket giants, including prominent players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vas, Arvind D. Silva, Marvan Atapattu, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Upul Chandana, Kumar Dharmasena and Romesh Kaluitrana.
During this meeting, Sri Lankan cricket team coach and former cricket star Sanath Jayasuriya made a special appeal to PM Modi.
Sanath Jayasuriya demanded the Prime Minister to build an international cricket stadium in Jaffna. He said that this is a big issue for the Sri Lankan team, because there is no international cricket ground in Jaffna so far. Jayasuriya said, “We play cricket all over Sri Lanka, but Jaffna has no international stadium. If India can help us and create an international cricket stadium in Jaffna, it will be a great help for the people of North and East Sri Lanka.” He also said that this step will prove to be important for the development of cricket in those areas, which are behind in terms of sports.
Prime Minister Modi reacted positively to this proposal, saying that India always believes in ‘neighbor first’ policy and is ready to help its neighboring countries. He said, “India always wants to maintain strong and lasting relations with its neighboring countries. We came forward to help there even during the Sri Lankan crisis and we are ready to help you in future also.” PM Modi appreciated the idea of creating a cricket stadium in Jaffna and assured that India would make every effort in this direction.
During this meeting, the Sri Lankan players thanked Prime Minister Modi and thanked India for the help of Sri Lankan’s economic crisis. He said that India’s assistance helped Sri Lanka recover in that difficult time.
Prime Minister Modi repeated his ‘neighbor first’ policy and cited the assistance made by India after the recent earthquake in Myanmar as an example. He said, “We first sent assistance after the earthquake in Myanmar. Similarly, India had provided all possible help on its behalf even in the time of Sri Lankan crisis.”
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