New Delhi/Colombo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Sri Lanka early next month to finalise agreements reached during President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s visit to Delhi last year, Sri Lankan foreign minister Vijitha Herath was quoted as saying by news agency reports on Saturday. The PM is also expected to visit the Thai capital Bangkok for the Bimstec summit early next month, which, according to reports, will take place from April 2 to 4.The Prime Minister’s travel schedule is yet to be confirmed. He could visit Sri Lanka either immediately before or after the Bimstec summit on his way back to New Delhi. According to reports, there is also a possibility of a bilateral meeting between Modi and the head of Bangladesh’s interim government Muhammad Yunus in Bangkok. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also both members of Bimstec.“We have maintained a close relationship with our neighbour India. Our first diplomatic visit was to India, where we reached several agreements on bilateral cooperation. Modi will arrive here (Colombo) in early April,” Herath was quoted as saying.The Sri Lankan foreign minister also reportedly said that during Modi’s visit, several new memoranda of understanding will be signed, in addition to the opening of the Sampur solar power station. In 2023, the state power entity Ceylon Electricity Board and India’s NTPC agreed to build a 135 MW solar power plant in Sampur town of eastern Trincomalee district, according to reports.Herath was also quoted as saying: “We will remain neutral in our foreign policy without taking any sides while working to maintain national interest.” The statement was in the obvious context of Sri Lanka’s ties with both India and China.The Left-leaning Sri Lankan President had visited New Delhi in December last year and had held talks with the PM, after which the two nations had announced increased cooperation in the fields of development assistance, including debt restructuring, trade, digital technology, energy, defence and security, connectivity and people-to-people ties. Modi had then announced that a futuristic vision had been adopted by the two sides that included investment-led growth and connectivity.Pointing out that India had so far given $5 billion, including both lines of credit (LoC) and grant assistance to Sri Lanka, Modi had described physical, energy and digital connectivity as the important pillars in bilateral ties.The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) regional grouping comprises seven countries of South and Southeast Asia — India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Bimstec summit was originally scheduled to be held in Bangkok last year but was postponed due to political instability in Thailand then.
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