Colombo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Colombo on Friday evening (April 4) on a three-day visit to Sri Lanka. PM Modi has gone to Sri Lanka from Thailand, where ministers Vijitha Herath, Nalinda Jayatissa, Anil Jayantha, Ramalingam Chandrasekhar, Saroja Savitri Paulraj and Krishantha Abeysena welcomed him at the airport. PM Modi's visit is to strengthen defense relations between India and Sri Lanka as well as to increase cooperation in energy, trade and connectivity. This visit of PM Modi is also important because China has tried to increase its influence in Sri Lanka in recent years.
Prime Minister Modi will hold a meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday. During this, agreements are expected to be signed between India and Sri Lanka in 10 areas. During this, seven agreements including the Defense Cooperation Agreement are likely to be finalized. Apart from this, three more agreements can also be discussed. Among these, the defense agreement is especially in focus. For the first time, a defense agreement is going to be signed between India and Sri Lanka.
Defense Agreement in India-Sri Lanka
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said that both the countries are ready to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on defense cooperation. This agreement will further strengthen the defense relations between India and Sri Lanka. This will leave behind the bad phase of the withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) from Sri Lanka 35 years ago. However, detailed information about this agreement has not been given yet.
The defense agreement between India and Sri Lanka is believed to be important in view of China's growing military power in the Indian Ocean region. In the year 2022, China's missile and satellite tracking ship Yuan Wang arrived at the Hambantota port of Sri Lanka. This had brought tension in the relationship between India and Sri Lanka. After this, another Chinese warship arrived at the Colombo port in 2023. India will try to reduce China's influence in Sri Lanka.
India is helping Sri Lanka financially
The Prime Minister's visit to Sri Lanka is taking place at a time when this island country is showing signs of recovery from the economic crisis. Three years ago, Sri Lanka was facing a major economic crisis and India provided aid of US $ 4.5 billion. After talks between Modi and Dissanayake, two documents related to debt restructuring and facilitating assistance from India to Sri Lanka are likely to be made public.
Narendra Modi has reached Sri Lanka's capital Colombo after a visit to Thailand. He participated in the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. PM Modi also held meetings with many important world leaders in Bangkok. In Bangkok, PM Modi met Bangladesh interim government head Mohammad Yunus, Nepal PM KP Oli and Myanmar military chief General Min Aung Hlaing.
