India assured the defense and energy agreements with the neighbor Sri Lanka on Saturday during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seen as a movement to counteract China’s growing influence in the region.
The president of Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara, Dissanayake, extended the red carpet for Modi and conferred the highest civil honor in the country for “the deep personal friendship” that was shown to the smallest neighbor.
“We believe that our security interests are aligned,” Modi said during a televised ceremony from the Dissanayake office in the capital. “Our security is interdependent and interconnected.”
A five -year defense cooperation agreement provides training of Sri Lanka military personnel in India, as well as the exchange of information and technology.
Dissanayake applauded what he called “the rise of India as a world power, not just a regional power.”
“I have reiterated our position for Prime Minister Modi that the territory of Sri Lanka will not be used by anyone to undermine the security of India,” he added.
Separately, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the United Arab Emirates were also part of the plan to develop the Energy Center in Sri Lanka.
The three nations signed the Hub pact during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka.
“The EAU is a strategic partner for India in energy space and, therefore, was an ideal partner for this exercise that is being done for the first time in the region,” said Foreign Secretary of India, Vikram Misri, to journalists in Colombo.
“The exact contours of the EAU’s role will be prepared once the company discussions begin company,” said Misri.
The three nations will then choose commercial entities that will consider the financing and viability of the projects for the Hub, he said.
India has previously opposed Chinese submarines and research ships that have called the main port of Colombo.
Sri Lanka has not allowed Chinese submarines to be coupled since 2014, after India raised concerns about two of these visits.
Last year, Colombo imposed the prohibition of foreign research ships after the accusations of New Delhi that Chinese ships were being used to spy on India.
On Saturday, Dissanayake welcomed Modi, the first foreign dignitary in visiting Colombo since the leftist leader swept power last year, with a 19 -cannon greeting.
Balancing China
The two leaders also celebrated the beginning of the construction of a solar energy project of 120 megawatts, developed as a joint business between the two nations. The solar plant, located in the Trincomalee district of the northeast of the island, had been stagnant for years but was revitalized with the support of New Delhi.
Modi’s visit occurs when Colombo deal with the competitive interests of New Delhi and Beijing. India has worried about China’s influence on Sri Lanka, who considers falling into her sphere of interest.
The first foreign visit of Dissanayake went to New Delhi in December, but followed her with a visit to Beijing in January, underlining the delicate act of equilibrium of Sri Lanka.
China has become the largest bilateral bilateral creditor of Sri Lanka, which represents more than half of its bilateral debt of $ 14 billion at the time the island breached its sovereign debt in 2022. Beijing was also the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka, a measure that helped to pave the road to the island to emerge from its worst economic conforming.
In January, Colombo announced that he had signed an agreement with a Chinese state company to invest $ 3.7 billion in an oil refinery in the south of the island. The agreement would mark the greatest foreign investment of Sri Lanka and is considered crucial for its economic recovery.
Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka followed a summit in Thailand and a series of meetings with neighboring nations leaders while sought to underpin the regional ties of India. Apart from the Bangkok Bimstec meeting, the group of seven nations in the Bengal Bay, Modi celebrated a rare meeting face to face with the chief of the Junta de Myanmar, Min hing Hlaing.
He also made conversations on Friday with the interim leader of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, the first meeting of this type since a revolution in Dhaka expelled the ally Sheikh Hasina from New Delhi and sent relationships to a tail tail.
India had been the greatest benefactor of the Hasina government, and his overthrow led Yunus to make his first state visit last month to China. Modi also met on Friday at Bangkok with his Nepalí counterpart, KP Sharma Oli, his first meeting since Oli returned to Power last year, as well as Tshering Tobgay of Bután.
