Several concrete outcomes expected during PM Modi-Dissanayake talks in Sri Lanka

Colombo: India and Sri Lanka are expected to come out with around 10 outcomes, including boosting cooperation in areas of defence, energy security and digitalisation, following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday.

Modi is arriving in the Sri Lankan capital on Friday evening after concluding his trip to Bangkok where he attended a summit of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).

The prime minister will be the first foreign leader to be hosted by Dissanayake in his capacity as the Sri Lankan president. Modi last visited Sri Lanka in 2019.

An agreement on defence cooperation is likely to be among seven pacts expected to be finalised besides three more outcomes, people familiar with the matter said.

If signed, the MoU on defence cooperation is set to signal a major upward trajectory in India-Sri Lanka defence, leaving behind the bitter chapter relating to India pulling out the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) from the island nation around 35 years ago.

The prime minister's visit to Sri Lanka comes as the island nation shows signs of recovery from the economic stress.

The country was reeling under a massive economic crisis three years back and India extended financial assistance worth $4.5 billion.

After the talks between Modi and Dissanayake, two documents facilitating India's assistance to Sri Lanka on debt restructuring and currency swap are likely to be made public.

In an interview with PTI, Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Santosh Jha said New Delhi's assistance to the island nation was "unprecedented" in terms of India's assistance to any country in the world.

"It was a huge bit of assistance and we are continuing to work with Sri Lanka in assisting in various areas and that is much appreciated here," Jha said.

"India was the first to provide financial assurances for the IMF to decide to provide Sri Lanka with the extended fund facility currently under operation in the country," he said.

"We were also the first to provide assurances on our side to be ready to restructure the debts. We joined the official creditor committee along with France and Japan to co-chair it," the high commissioner added.

Jha, recalling the Sri Lankan president's visit to India in December last year, said the cooperation agenda would be taken forward during Modi's trip to the island nation.

"We are taking forward the elements of that understanding and adding new agenda to the relationship because you all know that India and Sri Lanka are closest maritime neighbours," he said.

The relationship is important for us given our shared history, geography, and cultural ties, he added.

"There is an understanding between the two countries that we have a shared future ahead of us," he said.

In Colombo, Modi and Dissanayake will dedicate several projects being built in the island nation with India's assistance.

The two leaders will also witness the virtual groundbreaking of the Sampur solar energy project.

This is in many senses going to be a milestone in the bilateral partnership, India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said last week.

Modi is also scheduled to meet several political leaders.

On April 6, Modi and Dissanayake will travel to the historic city of Anuradhapura to pay their respects at the Mahabodhi temple.

They will also jointly inaugurate two India-assisted projects there.