President Wickremesinghe to visit India July 20-21: Foreign Ministry
The visit coincides with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries.
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit India on July 20-21 to strengthen bilateral relations, the foreign ministry stated Tuesday.
In a brief statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited President Wickremesinghe to India on July 20-21, 2023.
The visit coincides with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries.
The ministry said President Wickremesinghe would meet President Droupadi Murmu and discuss mutual interests with Prime Minister Modi and other Indian dignitaries during the visit.
“The visit will further advance and consolidate long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries,” it added.
After ousting Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a people’s rebellion in July, Wickremesinghe will make his first visit to India as President of the cash-strapped nation.
Wickremesinghe’s foreign policy prioritises India relations.
Sri Lanka’s finance minister, President Wickremesinghe, declared last week that the Indian rupee should be used as much as the US currency.
Sri Lanka’s fragile economy improves during the visit.
Due to a chronic lack of foreign exchange reserves, Sri Lanka had its greatest financial crisis since independence in 1948 in 2022.
India’s fuel and essentials credit lines saved Sri Lanka’s economy.
The island nation, which declared its first loan default in mid-April last year, received a four-year IMF bailout of USD 2.9 billion in March, contingent on reforms.
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