NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was in India on Monday on his first foreign visit as head of state, pledging to strengthen ties between the neighbors.
Leaders of the island nation usually make their first visit to India, which competes with China for influence in the Indian Ocean.
Leftist Dissanayake, who came to power in September thanks to his commitment to fighting corruption, is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi later today.
Dissanayake said he had “productive discussions” with India’s finance and foreign ministers, as well as national security adviser Ajit Doval.
“Our conversations focused on strengthening Indo-Sri Lankan economic cooperation, enhancing investment opportunities, promoting regional security and developing key sectors such as tourism and energy,” Dissanayake said in a press release.
“These commitments reaffirm the commitment to deepening the partnership between our two nations.”
New Delhi is worried about Beijing’s growing influence in Sri Lanka.
India has stepped up its infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka in recent years, but China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender.
Dissanayake is expected to travel to Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders in early 2025.
Sri Lanka suffered its worst financial crisis in 2022 when it ran out of foreign exchange to pay for essential imports such as food, fuel and medicine, and defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt.
