By Dilrukshi Handunnetti
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the importance of security in the Indian Ocean in a speech he made to Sri Lanka's parliament Friday.
Modi said the “the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka” was of utmost importance to India. “We should expand the maritime security cooperation among India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives,” he said.
Modi, who is on a three-day visit to the island nation -- as part of an Indian Ocean tour -- is the first Indian head of state to visit Sri Lanka in 28 years.
India has been increasingly concerned about security in the Indian Ocean because of concerns that Colombo has, in recent years, increasingly leant towards China for support.
Addressing Sri Lanka's 225-member legislature, Modi said that India was extremely keen to strengthen ties with Sri Lanka as “a strategic economic partner.”
He said his visit was a measure to “renew and strengthen the friendship and partnership,” and lauded Colombo for overcoming its decades-long civil war.
In what is perceived to be a strategic tour of Sri Lanka designed to challenge Sri Lanka's relationship with China, the visiting leader emphasized that "Sri Lanka is India’s main strategic economic partner” and it was in India’s wish to prevent Sri Lanka from economically lagging behind.
Modi, who is set to travel to Sri Lanka’s previously war-torn north Saturday, offered Colombo a fresh Line of Credit of up to $318 million to develop the railways sector.
In addition, the Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka today entered an agreement for a Currency Swap Agreement of $1.5 billion in a bid to strengthen the Sri Lankan rupee.
Four specific agreements were signed relating to customs, visa, youth development and the construction of a memorial named after the Nobel-winning Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore in Sri Lanka.
The Indian premier also announced the extension of the on arrival visa facility to Sri Lanka from 14 April.
