By TN Ashok / Diplomatic Editor
New Delhi, Feb 16 : India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for a more balanced trade between India and Sri Lanka as it was now heavily tilted towards India with a huge trade surplus. He also hailed the civil nuclear agreement between the two countries as a sign of great mutual trust.
Welcoming Sri Lankan President Maithripala Srisena and his wife to India on his first state visit following his historic victory at the recent general elections in the island republic, Modi said :” the President and I are committed to unlock the vast potential of our economic cooperation.”
“ We are pleased to be Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner. I know that India enjoys a huge trade surplus. I expressed my support for a more balanced growth in trade in both directions. I conveyed our readiness to promote greater flow of Indian investments and tourists into Sri Lanka”, Modi said
Modi said that he had discussed with Srisena the expansion of cooperation between India and Sri Lanka in the field of energy , conventional and on conventional. The Indian Prime Minister indicated that the commerce secretaries would meet soon to review the bilateral commercial relations between the two countries.
Hailing the civil nuclear agreement between India and Sri Lanka, Modi said The agreement on civil nuclear cooperation is yet another demonstration of our mutual trust. This is the first such agreement Sri Lanka has signed. It opens new avenues for cooperation, including in areas like agriculture and healthcare. President and I also agreed to expand our defence and security cooperation. We welcomed the progress in our maritime security cooperation, including in the trilateral format with Maldives”
While hailing Srisena’s massive victory in the general elections I Sri Lanka, Modi said : “ Your mandate carries the collective voice of Sri Lanka. It represents the aspirations of your people for a united, inclusive peaceful and prosperous nation. India is Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour and friend. The goodwill and support of the people of India will always be with you.”
While stating that the timeless links of history, religion and culture provided a solid foundation of our partnership, Modi said India and Sri Lanka shared a broad range of interests – economic development “ for our countries; peace and prosperity in South Asia; maritime security in the region.”
Claiming excellent discussions on bilateral relations and international issues, Modi said India intended to further improve air and sea connectivity between the two countries.
The Indian Prime Minister noted that the Indian assisted projects for Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka have made excellent progress. This includes the Housing Project, under which more than 27,000 houses have already been constructed. President and I expressed satisfaction with the progress.
Modi said that he had assured President Sirisena of India’s commitment to its development partnership with Sri Lanka. This will continue to cover a broad range of areas, including infrastructure. In this context, I am also pleased with the MoU on cooperation in agriculture.
Modi said that the Sri Lankan President and he attached the highest importance to the fishermen’s issue. It affects livelihood on both sides. We agreed that there must be a constructive and humanitarian approach to the issue.
Modi said : “ We will encourage the fishermen’s associations on both sides to meet again soon. They should find a solution that can be taken forward by both governments. Like cricket, culture provides a strong bond between us. The Programme of Cultural Cooperation signed today will nurture those ties and promote contacts between people.”
Modi was delighted that Sri Lanka was now part of the Nalanda University Project. It recalls a link forged 2300 years ago, by Prince Mahindra, known as Arahat Mahinda in Sri Lanka, and his sister Sanghamitra.They went to Sri Lanka as apostles of Buddhism.
Since Sri Lankan nationals visit the National Museum in New Delhi in large numbers to pay homage to the Kapilavastu relics, We have decided to reduce the fees for them.
Modi said he had accepted the President’s invitation to visit Sri Lanka and indicated that this could happened some time in march for which he was looking forward to. He hoped the sri lanka president ‘s visit and his scheduled visit to sri lanka in march would take indo sri lanka relations to a new height.