“Thank PM Modi, EAM Jaishankar”: President Wickremesinghe on India’s continued support to Sri Lanka

Recalling his meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his recent visit to the island nation, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he is thankful to him as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their continued support to Sri Lanka.

Wickremesinghe, as he reminisced about Jaishankar’s recent visit to Sri Lanka, stated that the houses built under the Indian Housing Project in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Matale were inaugurated at that time.

Sharing a post on X, the Sri Lankan President wrote, “I met Indian Foreign Minister @DrSJaishankar during his official visit to Sri Lanka, marking the first diplomatic exchange between India and Sri Lanka under the new government. We inaugurated houses built under the Indian Housing Project in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Matale. Thanks to @JeevanThondaman and @S_Thondaman for coordinating this project, benefiting the Indian-origin Tamil community.”

A Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre was formally commissioned, with a main centre in Colombo, and a sub-centre in Hambantota.

“We also handed over houses from model villages in Colombo and Trincomalee. We formally commissioned the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, with a main centre in Colombo, a sub-centre in Hambantota, and unmanned installations across Sri Lanka’s coastline,” Wickremesinghe said.

“I thank PM @narendramodi and @DrSJaishankar for their continued support to Sri Lanka,” he further added.

Jaishankar’s recently concluded visit to the island nation, according to MEA, underscores the central place that Sri Lanka occupies in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy and SAGAR Vision.

It was S Jaishankar’s first bilateral visit as External Affairs Minister after his re-appointment. His visit to Colombo comes after Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s recent visit to India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 9.

During his visit, Jaishankar called on Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Wickremesinghe received him at the President’s Office in a one-on-one meeting, followed by delegation-level talks that included Sri Lanka’s Minister of Ports, Shipping and Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture and Plantation Industries, Mahinda Amaraweera, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera.

Jaishankar also held meetings with his counterpart, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry.