Colombo, Feb 11 (PTI) The partnership between India and Sri Lanka is guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, President Ranil Wickremesinghe and visiting Indian Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan said here on Saturday.
Wickremesinghe and Murugan met in Jaffna and took part in an event held to dedicate the India-funded Jaffna Cultural Centre to the people of Sri Lanka, officials said.
They said the partnership between India and Sri Lanka was guided by Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy is an integral component of Indian foreign policy. The policy seeks to build cordial and synergetic relations with India’s South Asian neighbours in various areas such as economy, science and technology, research and education, among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Wickremesinghe said, “this was a gift given by PM Modi. I should thank PM Modi and the Indian government. This will remain a main feature of the Indo-Lanka partnership”.
The centre, whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2015, was dedicated to the people of Sri Lanka after a colourful cultural show that projected the diversity and richness of Sri Lankan culture.
The state-of-the-art centre consists of multiple facilities such as a museum, an advanced theatre-style auditorium that can accommodate more than 600 people, a 11-storey learning tower and a public square that can also double up as an amphitheatre.
Wickremesinghe said he decided to celebrate Sri Lanka’s 75th anniversary of independence in the main Tamil region of Jaffna.
“We decided so because of the support given by the Tamils to our independence struggle,” he said, recalling the contributions made by Tamil leaders.
However, a Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian was among 18 people arrested by the police for staging a protest demonstration against president Wickremesinghe’s visit to Jaffna.
“The police had obtained a court order against protests following information that a group was planning to sabotage the president’s visit where he was to declare open the Indian Cultural Center,” police spokesman and superintendent Nihal Thalduwa said.
Minister Murugan said, “Today is a very important day for both India and Sri Lanka. I am happy to grace the occasion of opening the cultural centre”.
“India has financing assurances to the IMF on restructuring Sri Lanka’s debt. I am happy to announce that PM Modi intends to introduce 100 scholarships to children from the north with economic difficulties,” he said.
The minister, who arrived in Jaffna on Thursday on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka, said he witnessed Indian assistance extended to Sri Lanka in the areas of infrastructure development, education, health and agriculture during his visits to different regions of the country.
India extended assistance of USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka during the country’s worst economic crisis.
Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy last year and defaulted on its USD 51 billion foreign loans for the first time since independence from Britain in 1948. PTI CORR MRJ AKJ MRJ
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