Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe to visit India from July 20-21

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will travel to India on an official visit from July 20-21 aimed at further advancing and consolidating the long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries, the foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

President Wickremesinghe will undertake an official visit to India on 20-21 July 2023 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it said in a brief statement.

The visit takes place as both countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

During the visit, President Wickremesinghe would meet President Droupadi Murmu and hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi and other Indian dignitaries on a range of issues of mutual interest, the ministry said.

"The visit will further advance and consolidate the long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries," it added.

This will be Wickremesinghe’s first visit to India after being appointed President of the cash-strapped country last year following the ouster of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a people's uprising in July.

Wickremesinghe has laid emphasis on good relations with India and made it a major plank of his foreign policy.

Last week, President Wickremesinghe, also the country's finance minister, said that Sri Lanka would want to see the Indian rupee used as much as the US dollar.

The visit comes as Sri Lanka's weak economy shows signs of improvement.

Sri Lanka was hit by an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves. India offered Sri Lanka an economic lifeline with dedicated credit lines for fuel and essential items.

The island nation, which declared its first-ever credit default in mid-April last year, secured a bailout of USD 2.9 billion from the IMF in March this year, spanning over 4 years subject to reforms being put in place.