Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday jointly commissioned the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre.

The centre was built with an Indian grant of USD 6 million.

Jaishankar paid an official visit to Sri Lanka on June 20.

It was his first bilateral visit following his addition to the new Indian Cabinet.

It follows immediately after the visit of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to India on 09-10 June to attend the swearing in ceremony of the new government following the General Elections in India.

In the recent past, EAM visited Sri Lanka four times in January 2021, March 2022, January 2023 and October 2023.

During the visit, EAM called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and held meetings with his counterpart, Foreign Minister M.U.M Ali Sabry.

S. Jaishankar had separate meetings with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, and leaders of the various political parties from the North, East and the upcountry region.

Across party lines, a stronger India-Sri Lanka partnership was seen as beneficial for continued growth and prosperity of the peoples of both countries.

The visit of the External Affairs Minister underscores the central place Sri Lanka occupies in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy and SAGAR Vision.

Following Sri Lanka’s economic recovery and stabilization, forging deeper long-term economic cooperation was underlined as a priority for sustainable and equitable growth of Sri Lanka, and mutual prosperity in the Indian Ocean Region.