Colombo. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Several agreements were signed on the first day of Jaishankar’s visit to Sri Lanka, strengthening defence, economic, educational, religious and cultural ties. Meeting the three Rajapaksa brothers – President Gotabaya, Prime Minister Mahinda and Finance Minister Basil as well as Foreign Minister G L Peiris, Jaishankar signed six MoUs that are important for the two countries’ future cooperation.
On the security front, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to set up a Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) with a grant of $6 million from India.
Built by Bharat Electronics, a government-owned aerospace and defense electronics company, with the project India is to provide three Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft to Sri Lanka and a 4,000 metric ton floating barge to the Sri Lankan Navy.
The MRCC is to be set up inside the Sri Lanka Naval Headquarters and seven other sub-units are to be deployed across the country, with one located in the southern city of Hambantota, where the port operated by the Chinese side is located.
A separate MoU was signed to implement the Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SL-UDI) program at a grant of Rs 30 crore.
However, both projects have been criticized by Sri Lanka’s opposition and activists, saying the government is selling the country’s national resources at the cost of national security.
The opposition also alleged that with the SL-UDI project the complete digital identity of all Sri Lankans, including biometrics, would be in the hands of India.
Another MoU was signed to implement hybrid power projects in three islands off Jaffna, where the earlier proposed Chinese project was canceled following objections by India. India has objected to the Chinese presence in the Sri Lankan islands off Rameswaram off the Tamil Nadu coast.
Among the other MoUs signed are for the development of fisheries port in Sri Lanka.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa recently thanked India for nearly $2.5 billion in aid to Sri Lanka and Jaishankar assured New Delhi’s continued support in Colombo’s economic recovery process.
An MoU was also signed in the presence of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to provide $15 million for the maintenance of important Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka.
Jaishankar virtual inaugurated the state-of-the-art theater at the Jaffna Cultural Center built with India’s grant-in-aid with the aim of expanding the cultural infrastructure for the people of the Northern Province.
—AnyTV News
read this also – Click to read the news of your state / city before the newspaper