Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed heartfelt gratitude to Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, his government, and the people of Sri Lanka for bestowing upon him the prestigious ‘Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana’—the island nation's highest award conferred upon a foreign head of state or government.
In a post on X, Modi remarked, “It is a matter of immense pride for me to be conferred the 'Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana' by President Dissanayake today. This honour is not mine alone – it is a tribute to the 1.4 billion people of India. It symbolises the deep-rooted friendship and historic ties between the people of India and Sri Lanka. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the President, the Government and the people of Sri Lanka for this honour.”
President Dissanayake, who conferred the award upon Modi, said during a joint press briefing that the Indian leader “highly deserves” the honour.
“I am pleased to announce that the Government of Sri Lanka has decided to confer upon him (PM Narendra Modi) the highest Sri Lankan honour to a foreign head of state/head of government – Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana. This prestigious honour, which was introduced in 2008, is conferred upon heads of states and government for their friendship, and honourable Prime Minister Modi highly deserves this honour, that is what we firmly believe,” said Dissanayake.
The two leaders also jointly e-inaugurated the High Impact Community Development Project in Sri Lanka’s agriculture sector. The project includes a first-of-its-kind 5,000 metric tonne temperature-controlled warehouse in Dambulla and the distribution of 5,000 solar rooftop units to religious places across all 25 districts.
In a social media post, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote, “PM @narendramodi & President @anuradisanayake jointly e-inaugurated High Impact Community Development Project in the field of agriculture i.e. a first-of-its-kind 5000 MT temperature controlled warehouse in Dambulla & supply of 5000 solar rooftop units to religious places that span across all 25 districts of Sri Lanka. They also participated in the virtual ground-breaking ceremony for the launch of the 120 MW Sampur Solar Project.”
During the joint statement, Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s position as central to India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and the maritime vision ‘Mahasagar’. He also announced a significant economic relief package for Sri Lanka.
“Sri Lanka has a special place in both our Neighbourhood First policy and Vision 'Mahasagar'...India has adopted the vision of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and places great importance on the priorities of its partner nations. In the past six months alone, we have converted loans worth over 100 million dollars into grants. Our debt restructuring agreement will provide immediate help and relief to the people of Sri Lanka, and we have also decided to lower the interest rates. This reflects that even today, India stands strong with Sri Lanka,” said Modi.
Among other key points discussed were livelihood challenges faced by fishermen.
“We also discussed issues related to livelihood of fishermen. We agreed that we should proceed with a humanitarian approach in this matter. We also stressed on immediate release of fishermen and return of their boats. India and Sri Lanka's relationship is based on mutual trust and goodwill,” said Modi.
He also underscored that the security interests of India and Sri Lanka were closely aligned and “interdependent and interconnected.”
“For the Indian-origin Tamil community in Sri Lanka, the construction of 10,000 houses will soon be completed.
Additionally, 700 Sri Lankan employees will be trained in India, including MPs, people linked to the judiciary, entrepreneurs, media personnel and young leaders. We believe that our security interests are aligned. Our security is interdependent and interconnected,” said Modi.
Earlier in the day, both leaders held bilateral talks and a delegation-level meeting in Colombo, attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, and other senior officials.
Prime Minister Modi, who is on a State visit to Sri Lanka from 4 to 6 April, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Colombo’s Independence Square—a gesture unprecedented in Sri Lankan history.
This visit marks Modi’s first to Sri Lanka since 2019. He arrived in Colombo following his trip to Thailand, where he participated in the BIMSTEC Summit and met with regional leaders including Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Bhutan’s Tshering Tobgay, Nepal’s KP Sharma Oli, and Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Also read: PM gets grand Sri Lanka welcome, talks to begin soon
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