ECONOMYNEXT – The relationship with India and Sri Lanka is strong and the business community and take links further, High Commissioner Santosh Jha said in Colombo speaking to a group of visiting Indian chief executives and local business leaders.
India had so far given 7 billion dollars in development aid to Sri Lanka including 800 million dollars in grants. Recently 100 million dollars in loans were written off into grants.
“And there is, of course, the debt restructuring and the softening of the loans that were extended during the emergency assistance that we provided Sri Lanka in 2022,” High Commissioner Jha said.
“It is basically to convey that India remains Sri Lanka’s most reliable friend and the most
dependable partner. And that we do so without condition. We are not asking anything in return.
“We just need your help in building trust and goodwill, in building relationships that are enduring, that are to the mutual benefit of both countries.”
The CEO delegation from the Confederation of India Industry had met the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the Energy Minister and was due to meet the President.
“I would say we are today having a relationship that has been probably the best ever that we have had,” High Commissioner Jha said to an audience that also included key senior politicians from the ruling party and opposition at the Indian invested ITC Ratnadipa Hotel.
“The range of sectors, the intensity of contacts, the depth of the partnership, the impact – in terms of the potential it has – on respective sectors of our economies will be really, really immense.
“And I hope that this delegation today and tomorrow has taken this process forward in a business sense.”
The group of 15 CEOs who visited Colombo and met Sri Lankan counterparts were a ‘serious delegation’ , some of whom had already invested in Sri Lanka and would like to expand, while others were new, he said.
And Indian firm said last week it was buying the controlling stake of Colombo Dockyard from its Japanese shareholder in the first major private investment in the country after the latest currency crisis. (Colombo/July01/2025)
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