India promised
$50 million in assistance to Sri Lanka to help the country buy equipment for
its security forces when India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval called on
Saturday for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
During the
meeting, Doval, who arrived on an official visit in Colombo on Saturday,
addressed several bilateral issues and exchanged views with President Rajapaksa
on improving bilateral relations in several fields, including reinforcing defence
cooperation. The topics discussed included enhancing collaboration between the
two countries' security forces, enhancing maritime security, co-operation and
interaction between the two countries' coast guards.
"Yesterday,
a very cordial discussion took place with India's National Security Adviser,
Ajit Doval. Strengthening bilateral cooperation on national security, sharing
intelligence, maritime security, and promoting regional collaboration were some
of the critical points of discussion, "said the President in a tweet.
Doval pointed
out the importance of studying Sri Lanka, Maldives and India's awareness of
maritime zones. He also stressed the need for other regional states to take
part as observers in this process. He also said that $50 million would give to
purchasing equipment for Sri Lankan security forces as part of enhancing
security cooperation. India has also committed to helping Sri Lanka collect
intelligence information and set up a geo-coordinating centre.
The visit to Sri
Lanka by India's top security official follows the appointments of several
high-ranking foreign officials this week, including the Chinese and Russian
Foreign Ministers and Assistant Secretary of the US Department of State Alice
Wells.
OSL Take: The
commitment of approximately US $50 million line of credit by India to Sri Lanka
indicates the close bilateral ties enjoyed by the two nations. Sri Lanka and
India have an active free trade agreement as well. India has played an active
role as Sri Lanka’s development partner. Therefore, business opportunities
between the two countries are very high.
Foreign
businesses/investors interested in doing business with India could look at
setting up base in Sri Lanka to get the trade benefits enjoyed by Sri Lankan
businesses in India. The ancient ties between the two nations have further
strengthened through trade ties that have been benefited by a free trade
agreement (FTA) between the two countries. While many Indian companies have
formed joint ventures with local businesses, the Indian government has
continuously assisted Sri Lanka in its development program.
The strong trade
ties between Sri Lanka and India could be beneficial to foreign
businesses/investors interested in doing business in the South Asian region as
well as India. On the other hand, given Sri Lanka’s continuous efforts to
develop its railway sector, foreign companies engaged in rail transport could
explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s railway sector as well as help
build supplementary facilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment