Union Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India (GoI) visited Sri Lanka on 20th June 2024. This marked his 1st bilateral visit to any country after being sworn-in as External Affairs Minister (EAM) of India for 2nd consecutive term.
- He was received by Tharaka Balasuriya, State Minister of Foreign, Sri Lanka and Senthil Thondaman, Governor of Eastern Province on his arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- During his visit to Sri Lanka, EAM S. Jaishankar held separate bilateral meetings with President of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister (PM) of Sri Lanka, Dinesh Gunawardena.
- He also held separate meetings with the former President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksha, and with other prominent political leaders of Sri Lanka.
Note: i.So far, S.Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka 4 times as EAM of India i.e. in January 2021, March 2022, January 2023 and October 2023.
ii.In October 2023, EAM S. Jaishankar participated at 23rd Council of Ministers (COM) meeting of India Ocean Rim Association (IORA) in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC):
On 20th June 2024, Union Minister S. Jaishankar and Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka jointly unveiled the virtual plaque to mark the formal commissioning of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), a nerve centre for Search and Rescue operations at sea, in Sri Lanka built with a USD 6 million grant from India.
- The MRCC was established by the Navratna PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL),Ministry of Defence, Government of India. The Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) for the MRCC was signed in 2022.
- It includes a centre at Navy Headquarters in Colombo, a sub-centre in Hambantota and unmanned installations at Galle, Arugambay, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kallarawa, Point Pedro and Mollikulam.
Key Points:
i.MRCC was commissioned on the side lines of bilateral meeting held between both leaders at Sri Lankan President’s House in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- During the bilateral meeting, leaders of both countries discussed various areas for bilateral cooperation which includes: power, energy, connectivity, port infrastructure, aviation, digital, health, food security, education, tourism, among others.
ii.Both leaders virtually handed over 24 houses in each model village in Colombo and Trincomalee built under the Model Village Housing Project and jointly unveiled the virtual plaque for 106 houses in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Matale districts in Sri Lanka, built under Phase III of the Indian Housing Project, with funding from India.
Reinforces India’s “Neighbourhood First” Policy
The official visit of MEA S. Jaishankar to Sri Lanka holds great significance for India and Sri Lanka relations as this underscores primacy that Sri Lanka holds in India’s “Neighbour First” policy and SAGAR Security and Growth for All in the Region(SAGAR) policy.
- The visit reaffirms India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ and underlines India’s continued commitment to Sri Lanka as its “closest” maritime neighbour and time tested friend.
About Sri Lanka:
Capital- Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (legislative capital), Colombo (judicial and executive capital)
President- Ranil Wickremesinghe
Prime Minister (PM)- Dinesh Gunawardena
Currency- Sri Lankan Rupee (SLR)
About Ministry of External Affairs (MEA):
Union Minister- Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (Rajya Sabha member- Gujarat)
Minister of State (MoS)- Pabitra Margherita (Rajya Sabha member- Assam)
