Sri Lanka: President makes first foreign visit to India

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is visiting India on Monday, his first foreign trip as head of state, with the aim of strengthening relations with his neighbor.

The island’s leaders usually reserve their first official meeting for India, a regional power rival to China.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka’s first left-wing president, is due to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today.

“Productive discussions”

He said he had already had “productive discussions” with ministers and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

“Our conversations focused on strengthening India-Sri Lanka economic cooperation, improving investment opportunities, regional security and advancing key sectors such as tourism and energy,” explained Anura. Kumara Dissanayake in a press release.

New Delhi has increasingly engaged in infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka in recent years, but China remains the island’s largest bilateral lender.

Recovering from the worst financial crisis in its history

The Sri Lankan president is due to travel to Beijing in early 2025 to meet officials.

Sri Lanka is still trying to recover from the worst financial crisis in its history, in 2022, when shortages of basic goods multiplied due to a lack of foreign currencies to finance their imports.

The small country in the Indian Ocean had to default on its external debt of 46 billion dollars (40.9 billion Swiss francs).

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