Won’t let my territory to be used against India: Lankan Prez

New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Disanayaka on Monday conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the island nation's soil will not be allowed for use against India's interests, an assurance that came amid concerns in New Delhi over China's attempts to increase its influence over Colombo.

Disanayaka, on a three-day visit to India, held wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Modi that saw both sides deciding to soon conclude a defence cooperation agreement and ramp up energy ties by establishing electricity grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines.

In his media statement, Modi said he and the Sri Lankan president were in "full agreement" that security interests of both the countries are interconnected and it was decided to quickly finalise the security cooperation agreement.

Modi conveyed to Disanayaka India's consistent support to the island nation in its quest for economic recovery and stability. Sri Lanka was reeling under a massive economic crisis two years back and India extended financial assistance worth USD 4 billion to the country.

The two leaders instructed officials to finalise discussions on the bilateral MoU on debt restructuring.

"We have adopted a futuristic vision for our partnership. We have laid emphasis on investment-led growth and connectivity in our economic partnership," Modi said. "We have decided that physical, digital and energy connectivity shall be the key pillars of our partnership. We shall work towards establishing electricity-grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines between both the nations," he added.

In his remarks, the Sri Lankan leader said the Indian prime minister has given an assurance to always protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. "I have also given an

assurance to the prime minister that we will not allow our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interests of India," he said.

Underlining importance of connectivity, Modi said a decision was taken to initiate a ferry service between Rameshwaram and Talaimannar.

“We have jointly decided that, post the successful launch of the Nagapattinam-Kankesanthurai ferry service, we will also initiate a ferry service between Rameshwaram and Talaimannar,” he said.

The prime minister said he and the Sri Lankan leader also deliberated on the fishermen issue and agreed that a “humanitarian approach” should be adopted on it. Modi hoped that the Sri Lankan government will fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil people in the island nation.

“We also talked about reconstruction and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. President Disanayaka apprised me of his inclusive perspective. We hope that the Sri Lankan government shall fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil people,” Modi said.