Indian Foreign Secretary here for high-level talks and to launch projects

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla arrived in the country last night on a three-day whirlwind visit, covering seven districts. It will focus on bilateral talks, meeting with political party representatives and opening of social projects.

He was received by Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

The visiting Indian Foreign Secretary will call on the President, the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister, and the Foreign Minister tomorrow and his visits include Jaffna, Trincomalee, Galle and Kandy.

Issuing a statement on the visit, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that as Sri Lanka occupies a central place in India’s ‘ Neighbourhood First’ policy, the Foreign Secretary’s visit will provide an opportunity to review bilateral ties, the progress of ongoing bilateral projects and

ongoing cooperation to tackle Covid related disruptions. Mr. Shringla will also meet a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) delegation led by its leader R. Sampanthan in Colombo and at the Indianfunded Cultural Centre in Jaffna, in addition to scheduled meetings with the Northern Governor and leaders of political parties.

During his visit to Kandy and the upcountry, he will inaugurate the a 1 project to build 1250 houses for plantation families under India’s flagship Indian Housing Project in Sri Lanka to construct 50,000 houses with a total allocation of US$ 270 million in grants.

Under this project, 4000 houses are being constructed in the plantation regions of Central, Uva, Sabragamuwa and Southern Provinces of Sri Lanka.