Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda stated that it is critically important to develop eight thrust areas in moving Sri Lanka- India relations from a transactional phase to a strategic phase, in keeping with the fourth pillar of the four pillar-cooperation package announced during the recent visit of the Sri Lankan Finance Minister to India.

High Commissioner Moragoda made these remarks, speaking at a virtual event organized by the Vivekananda International Foundation, a premier thinktank based in New Delhi, to discuss his policy roadmap, the “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lanka Diplomatic Missions in India 2021/2023”.

At this virtual event, organized as part of a series of such events to bring the Integrated Country Strategy to the attention of the Delhi-based thinktanks, High Commissioner Moragoda elaborated the importance of developing the thrust areas of petroleum, electricity, ports, tourism, ICT, exports, manufacturing and agriculture to elevate the Sri Lanka- India relationship to a strategic level as envisaged in the Integrated Country Strategy. In this context, he stressed the need to integrate the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms and the Port of Trincomalee to the overall energy strategy of India with a view to making Trincomalee an energy hub, a move which he observed that would be beneficial to both countries.

At the beginning of the event the Integrated Country Strategy was introduced to the participants by Deputy High Commissioner Niluka Kadurugamuwa and the High Commissioner’s remarks were followed by a discussion that focused on many aspects of the bilateral relationship, including people to people contacts, connectivity, energy etc.

A large number of participants attended the virtual event. Ambassador Dinkar Srivastav, former Ambassador of India to Iran, Lt. General Ravi Sawhney, former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff and Anil Devli, CEO of the Indian Ship Owners’ Association were also among the participants.

The session was moderated by the Vivekananda International Foundation’s Director Dr. Aravind Gupta.

Vivekananda International Foundation, an independent, non-partisan institution that promotes quality research and in-depth studies was founded in 2009 and Ajit Doval, present National Security Advisor of India was its founder Director. Its present Director Dr. Arvind Gupta was a former Deputy National Security Advisor of India.