(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Visiting Foreign Secretary of India Vinay Kwatra says “a very warm” welcome awaits Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his upcoming visit to India.
Foreign Secretary Kwatra noted that President Wickremesinghe is a well-known leader and a very strong supporter of the relationship between the two countries and India is hopeful of further strengthening ties with Sri Lanka during his visit.
Foreign Secretary Kwatra, who is currently in Sri Lanka to work out arrangements pertaining to President’s visit to New Delhi, scheduled for the 21st of July, called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe Tuesday at the Ministry of Defense to discuss the key areas of bilateral partnership that could progress before and during the visit.
Following is the transcript of media remarks made by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra during his visit to Sri Lanka on 11 July 2023.
………I just wanted to share with you what we have been able to achieve in this very short duration visit of mine. I arrived last night and this morning, I have had the privilege of calling on His Excellency the Foreign Minister, His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, and also had discussions with my counterpart the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka. We also had a chance to meet with a few ministers on the sidelines of the lunch.
The purpose of my visit is essentially to prepare for the upcoming visit of Hon. President of Sri Lanka to India. My discussions earlier today with the Sri Lankan leadership as also with the Foreign Ministry were essentially focused on trying to ensure that the upcoming visit of Hon. President of Sri Lanka is actually a point of positive transformation in the relationship. We also discussed the key areas of partnership that we could progress ahead of the visit, going into the visit, priorities of the Sri Lankan leadership, as also shared with this the perspective of our leadership on the relationship, the strength of the relationship, different elements of cooperation in the relationship, elements of our partnership in years ahead across the entire matrix of economic partnership that India and Sri Lanka enjoy.
As I said, our objective is to ensure that the visit of Hon. President of Sri Lanka to India is a huge success. He is a well known leader and a very strong supporter of the relationship. We have worked and cooperated very well in the last 14-16 months of various challenges that Sri Lanka went through and I can assure that a very warm welcome awaits him in India.
We eagerly look forward to Excellency the President’s visit to India and make it a success both of his visit but also a similar success of our relationship.
Thank you very much!
