NEW DELHI: India will lend Sri Lanka $400 million for infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday after talks with the island nation’s new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa aimed at improving bilateral ties.
Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former wartime defence chief, is on his first visit to India after a sweeping election victory earlier this month won on a platform promising to pull the country out of its deepest economic slump in more than 15 years.
He told reporters he wanted to take bilateral ties with India to a “very high level”.
Modi said India would provide Sri Lanka with $50 million for its security needs in addition to the $400 million for infrastructure. “India is fully committed to the development of Sri Lanka,” he said.
