Colombo/New Delhi, Apr 7 (UNI) Amid the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, Sri Lanka has turned to India to help it stave off the potential detrimental impact the tariffs can have on the island country’s economy.
During the meeting of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Sri Lankan President brought up the matter and emphasised on enhancing Colombo’s economic cooperation with New Delhi to deal with the fallout of such actions with geo-economic implications, according to the Daily Mirror.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, briefing the media in Colombo, said that there was reference to this aspect during the bilateral discussion between Prime Minister Modi and Sri Lankan President Dissanayake. He said the President emphasised this matter during talks, and the two sides would seek to further enhance economic cooperation to deal with the fallout of such actions. He said tariffs were a matter affecting both the countries.
The two leaders signed seven MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) which covered areas such as defence, health sector cooperation, energy, digitisation, and the interconnection of the power grids and the development of the country’s Trincomalee region as an energy hub.
The Trincomalee area, which is a major region of Sri Lankan Tamils, was a key area of the MoUs signed and is a trilateral arrangement between India, Sri Lanka, and the UAE to develop the city.
PM Modi also virtually inaugurated the Sampur solar power project, the temperature-controlled warehouse in Dambulla and the supply of solar energy to 500,000 religious institutions. He pledged assistance to develop Thirukoneswaram temple in Trincomalee, the sacred city complex of Anuradhapura and the Sita Temple in Nuwara-Eliya.
He also visited the revered Anuradhapura yesterday, along with President Dissanayake, to inaugurate two railway projects.
Regarding the issue of defence cooperation, Sri Lankan President Dissanayake said that the signed MoU assured that Sri Lankan soil and waters will never be used against India’s interests.
Calling it an "umbrella framework document" for the already existing defence ties, he added that the MoU will give impetus to the already existing exchanges, capacity building, port calls by naval units of both the countries and defence industry cooperation.

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