President to begin India visit from Sunday

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will visit India from December 15 to 17, 2024, the two countries’ foreign ministries said, announcing his first state visit abroad since he won the presidency in September and his party swept the polls in the November general elections.

During his visit to New Delhi, Mr. Dissanayake will meet President Droupadi Murmu and hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “and other Indian dignitaries on a range of issues of mutual interest”, Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

President Dissanayake is also scheduled to participate in a business event in New Delhi aimed at “promoting investment and commercial linkages between India and Sri Lanka” and, later, travel to Bodh Gaya as part of the visit, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Sri Lankan leader’s visit to India assumes significance after his party’s resounding victory, with a two-thirds majority, in the recent parliamentary election and amid his government’s effort to rebuild the country’s crisis-hit economy. Mr. Dissanayake will also travel to Beijing soon, his government has said.

In the meetings scheduled in New Delhi during his visit, bilateral development projects and potential Indian investments are likely to be discussed, in addition to debt treatment as part of Sri Lanka’s current IMF program.

India’s proposals for more excellent connectivity with Sri Lanka are expected to be reviewed.

Energy sector cooperation and the persisting fisheries conflict in the Palk Strait — Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu are frequently arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters — are also on the agenda, official sources said.