Sri Lankan President Dissanayake will visit India on his first foreign visit on December 15 ntc
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will be on a two-day visit to India from December 15, which will be his first foreign trip after assuming office. This was announced on Tuesday. Giving information about the visit, Cabinet spokesperson Nalinda Jayathissa said, ‘During his visit, Dissanayake will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Draupadi Murmu.’
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando will also be accompanying him on this visit. The December 15-17 visit is Dissanayake’s first foreign trip after being elected President. According to reports, the invitation to visit India was given by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who visited Colombo less than a fortnight after Dissanayake’s victory.
Jaishankar was the first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka after the Dissanayake-led National People’s Power (NPP) government came to power on September 23.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National People’s Power (NPP) won 159 out of 225 seats in Parliament. In the 2020 elections, NPP could win only 3 seats. This time NPP has got 62 percent votes.
Also read: Leftist government in Sri Lanka but still how is friendship with India a compulsion?
Why is India helpless for Sri Lanka?
Dissanayake cannot spoil relations with India even if he wants to, because it could hurt its economy. Whereas, the public has handed over power to Dissanayake because of his promise to bring the economy back on track. India is Sri Lanka’s second largest trading country after China. Sri Lanka is largely dependent on India for petroleum. However, they cannot ignore China either, but it is also a compulsion for Dissanayake and his government to improve relations with India, because they have seen that India will be of use to them when needed.
