Sri Lankan PM set to meet Modi, Kovind

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will leave for India on Tuesday on an official visit, his office here said.

He will hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and call on President Ram Nath Kovind during his stay in New Delhi, in addition to participating in the Global Conference on Cyberspace to be held in the Indian capital later in the week.

India-Sri Lanka relations have been marked by high-level visits in 2017, by leaders of both countries. In April, Mr. Wickremesinghe was in India on a “working visit”.

Following his talks with Mr. Modi, India and Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding for ‘Cooperation in Economic Projects’. In May, Mr. Modi visited Sri Lanka to participate in the UN Vesak Day celebration here.

Currently, the neighbours are negotiating the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement, and the terms for a likely deal allowing India to develop the Mattala airport near Hambantota town, where the Chinese hold a majority stake in a port.

India and Sri Lanka have also agreed, in principle, to jointly operate the World War-era oil storage facility in the eastern port town of Trincomalee but the terms are yet to be firmed up, amid opposition from oil union workers in the island.