New Delhi
\nIndia\u2019s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Colombo on Friday to meet Sri Lanka\u2019s new president and government and assure New Delhi\u2019s continued support.
\nSri Lanka\u2019s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office on Sept. 23, after winning the country\u2019s first presidential vote since its financial collapse in 2022.
\nA day later, he appointed his three-member government and dissolved the parliament, clearing the way for new parliamentary elections scheduled for Nov. 14.
\nThe Indian foreign minister is the first top foreign official to pay an official visit to Sri Lanka since its regime change.
\nHe took to X after meeting Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.
\n\u201cDiscussed ways to deepen ongoing cooperation and strengthen India-Sri Lanka ties for the benefit of people of two countries and the region,\u201d Jaishankar said, as he also expressed \u201cIndia\u2019s continued support to Sri Lanka\u2019s economic rebuilding.\u201d
\nThe Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the visit aimed to \u201cfurther deepen the longstanding partnership\u201d between the countries under India\u2019s Neighborhood First Policy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s geopolitical framework of cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.
\nDissanayake, the country\u2019s first Marxist-leaning leader, took over the job on the promise of change, as the island nation of 22 million is still reeling from the crisis and austerity measures imposed by his predecessor as a part of a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund.
\nSri Lanka\u2019s largest trading partner, India in 2022 emerged also as the main source of support to its battered economy.
\n\u201cIndia has been consistently engaged with the Sri Lankan leadership since the economic crisis, and Jaishankar\u2019s visit is a signal that despite the change in government, India is likely to continue to work closely with the new dispensation,\u201d Prof. Harsh V. Pant, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, told Arab News.
\n\u201cIndia intends to have as close ties with this government as it had with the previous. I think this is a signal of India\u2019s interest \u2026 India is keen to continue the momentum in the relationship that had set in after India became the most active player in helping Sri Lanka get out of the economic crisis.\u201d
\nThe lineup of Sri Lanka\u2019s new government will be finalized after November\u2019s election. Currently, the president, the prime minister and the foreign minister have divided all the portfolios among themselves. A proper cabinet will be appointed after the parliamentary vote, with the composition depending on its results.
\n\u201cIndia has registered that it is willing to work with the new government. That is the main message from the visit \u2026 Other details about projects, investment and other things will take time,\u201d N. Sathiya Moorthy, a political analyst in Chennai, told Arab News.
\n\u201cEvery Sri Lankan remembers how India rushed to help during their economic crisis. So, the new government will not overlook that sentiment also.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi India\u2019s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Colombo on Friday to meet Sri Lanka\u2019s new president and government and assure New Delhi\u2019s continued support. Sri Lanka\u2019s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took office on Sept. 23, after winning the country\u2019s first presidential vote since its financial collapse in 2022. A day later, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-435396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n