Colombo Vice President Radhakrishnan met Sri Lankan President Anura Kumar Dissanayake here on Sunday and discussed various initiatives including housing projects in India and fishermen issues between the two South Asian neighbors.
Radhakrishnan, who arrived in Sri Lanka for a two-day visit earlier in the day, also discussed with Dissanayake the projects implemented by India in Sri Lanka, focusing on India’s $450 million assistance for cyclone Ditwa.
Accompanied by a 49-member delegation, the Vice President was received by Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamachi and several other dignitaries at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.
Radhakrishnan’s visit is the first by an Indian vice president to Sri Lanka, officials said.
Officials said Radhakrishnan emphasized India’s “neighborhood first” policy and bilateral development cooperation.
“The two leaders had fruitful discussions on further deepening the multifaceted India-Sri Lanka relations rooted in shared history, strong civilization and people-to-people ties,” Radhakrishnan said in a social media post.
The statement added that they held extensive discussions on various initiatives, including the Indian Housing Project and projects being implemented under a $450 million package for areas affected by Cyclone Ditwa in Sri Lanka, including reconstruction and rehabilitation of areas most affected by the Indian-origin Tamil community.
The two sides also discussed a humanitarian solution to the fishermen’s problem, taking into account the livelihood of the fishing communities on both sides.
The fishermen issue is a contentious issue in India-Sri Lanka relations.
The Palk Strait, a narrow body of water that separates Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
Fishermen from both countries are regularly arrested for inadvertently trespassing into each other’s waters.
Later in the day, he is expected to meet Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya.
A press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka said that there are also plans to exchange a number of memorandums of understanding between the two countries during the visit.
The visit follows recent high-level contacts between the two countries and is expected to further strengthen the millennium-old civilizational and people-to-people ties between India and Sri Lanka, an official statement said.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
