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Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa arrives in New Delhi
Why is it in news?
- Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in New Delhi on Friday evening on his first official visit abroad after being appointed to the office by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
More in news
- Recent mutual visits
(1) Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi follows those of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in late November and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena in January.
(2) From the Indian side, Mr. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval have visited Colombo after the new government took charge in November.
- Statement by Sri Lanka: According to a statement from the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s office, defence and maritime security cooperation, politics, trade, development, culture and tourism would be discussed during the visit.
- Development and debt-trap
(1) Development cooperation is likely to be high on the agenda, while it remains to be seen if India might announce any new assistance.
(2) On debt traps:
(a) Doval, in his meeting with President Rajapaksa in Colombo last month, had reportedly discussed countering “debt traps”.
(b) Debt traps is a term often used in the West and India while referring to large-scale Chinese loans.
- Tamil concerns
(1) India’s stand: Modi, during President Rajapaksa’s visit, expressed confidence that Sri Lanka would carry forward the process of reconciliation, “to fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil for equality, justice, peace and respect.”
(2) Sri Lanka’s position: The Sri Lankan President has emphasised the need for development over power devolution in the war-hit areas and expressed reservations over devolving land and police powers to the Tamil majority provinces.
- Fisheries conflict and housing projects
(1) Joint Marine Resource Management Authority: Sri Lanka’s Minister of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources Douglas Devananda, who is travelling with the PM, said he was going to propose that the two countries set up a joint marine resources management authority.
(2) Further, the Minister said he planned to request India to build more houses in the north and east and provide assistance for deep sea fishing techniques.
(3) India has so far helped build 46,000 homes in the war-affected areas.
Source
The Hindu