Virtual Bilateral Summit between Prime Minister of Sri Lanka H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister of India H.E. Shri Narendra Modi |
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Saturday, 26 September 2020 16:13 |
Sri Lanka - India Joint Statement on Virtual Bilateral Summit Mitratva Magga -Path of Friendship: Towards Growth and Prosperity Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa and Prime Minister of India, H.E. Narendra Modi held a Virtual Summit today in which they discussed bilateral relations and regional & international issues of mutual concern. 2. Prime Minister Modi congratulated Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on his assumption of office of Prime Minister with a decisive mandate at the Parliamentary Election held in Sri Lanka in August 2020. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed his gratitude for the good wishes and conveyed his keenness to work together closely with Prime Minister Modi. 3. Both the leaders recalled the successful State Visits by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in November 2019 and February 2020, respectively. These visits gave clear political direction and vision for the future of the relationship. 4. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa commended the strong leadership shown by Prime Minister Modi in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic based on a vision of mutual support and assistance to the countries of the region. Both leaders agreed that the current situation presented a fresh opportunity to give added impetus to bilateral relations. Both the leaders expressed happiness that India and Sri Lanka worked very closely in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed India’s continued commitment for all possible support to Sri Lanka for minimising the health and economic impact of the pandemic. 5. To give a further impetus to the bilateral relationship, the two leaders agreed to:
6. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa welcomed the announcement made by Prime Minister Modi of India’s grant assistance of US$ 15 million for promotion of Buddhist ties between the two countries. The grant will assist in deepening the people-to-people linkages between the two countries in the sphere of Buddhism including inter alia through construction/renovation of Buddhist monasteries, capacity development, cultural exchanges, archaeological cooperation, reciprocal exposition of Lord Buddha’s relics, strengthening engagement of Buddhist scholars and clergy etc.
8. Both leaders acknowledged the increasing convergence on regional and international issues of mutual engagement, including within the frameworks of the SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA and the United Nations system. 9. Recognizing that BIMSTEC is an important platform for regional cooperation linking South Asia with South East Asia, both leaders agreed to work together to ensure a successful BIMSTEC Summit to be hosted under the Chairmanship of Sri Lanka. 10. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the strong support received from the international community for India’s election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-2022. |