Sri Lankan President to meet PM Modi on 21st

Delhi: Sri Lankan President Ranil Vikram Singhe, who is on a two-day visit to India, will meet PM Modi in New Delhi on Friday. During this, issues like financial and economic relations, development cooperation, new projects, investments will be discussed in both the countries. Sri Lanka is confident that its relations with India will reach new heights. Just last year, Sri Lanka was facing a huge economic crisis. Sri Lankan politicians had to flee their country after the financial system failed. The public came out on the streets. Now after India's $ 4 billion help, Sri Lanka's economy has started coming back on track.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived in India on Thursday. On the first day, he met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and during this the two leaders discussed several bilateral issues. Jaishankar tweeted, “Honoured to have met President Ranil Wickremesinghe. It is expected that his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will further deepen the neighborly relations between the two countries, as well as take India's 'neighbourhood first' and oceans policies to new heights.

Sri Lanka notifies Indian Rupee as foreign currency Bagchi said that Sri Lanka has notified the Indian currency rupee as declared foreign currency in its system. He told that this is Ranil Wickremesinghe's first visit to India after assuming the office of the President. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, during the visit, President Wickremesinghe will call on President Draupadi Murmu in New Delhi and hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other dignitaries on a wide range of issues of mutual interest. He said that Sri Lanka is an important partner in India's 'Neighbourhood First Policy' and 'Sagar Approach'. The visit will reaffirm the long-standing friendship between the two countries and provide an opportunity to enhance contacts and explore ways to expand mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. Wickremesinghe's visit comes at a time when Sri Lanka's weak economy is showing signs of improvement.

Sri Lanka faced the biggest crisis Sri Lanka was hit by a financial crisis in 2022 due to severe shortage of foreign exchange. It faced the biggest economic crisis after independence from British rule in 1948. Sri Lanka announced its debt default for the first time in mid-April last year. In March this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave him a relief package of US $ 2.9 billion. During this period, under its policy of 'neighbourhood first', India had given assistance of about four billion dollars to Sri Lanka through various means. Sri Lanka's foreign ministry said in a statement this week that President Wickremesinghe is paying an official visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visit is taking place at a time when both the countries are celebrating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year. Sri Lanka's Foreign Ministry has said, "This visit will further strengthen and strengthen the long-standing bilateral relations."