Modi. Ranil boost ties, unveil a new economic partnership

India and Sri Lanka on Friday unveiled a new economic partnership for maritime, air, energy and financial connectivity, including the use of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, even as New Delhi pressed Colombo on a political solution to fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil minority.

- Rezaul H Laskar

 

The India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership Vision, issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ranil Wickremesinghe, includes a power grid interconnection for electricity trade, construction of a petroleum pipeline, a feasibility study for land connectivity, and resumption of talks on an Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement to replace an existing trade deal.

Following an agreement between India’s NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) and Lanka Pay, UPI is set to be accepted in Sri Lanka after completion of certain processes in the next two to three months. As a follow-up to the 2022 deal on the Trincomalee oil tank farms, the two sides signed an agreement to develop the facility as a regional hub of industry and energy.

Participating in a media interaction with Wickremesinghe, Modi said Sri Lanka has a key place in India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision. Referring to the unprecedented economic crisis that hit Sri Lanka over the past year, he noted that India stood “shoulder to shoulder” with the island nation in its hour of crisis.