India and Sri Lanka have reviewed the progress made in their bilateral ties discussing various issues, including that of fishermen, a major irritant in the relations, as the two countries signed MoUs in education and health sectors. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera discussed the entire gamut of relationship during the 9th Indo-Lanka Joint Commission meeting.
The Joint Commission meeting which lasted for more than two hours discussed the issues such as economic cooperation, trade, power and energy, technical and maritime cooperation, social, cultural and educational matters, science and technology, defence cooperation, health, civil aviation, tourism and people-to-people contact.
Two MoUs were signed after the meeting — one on renovating 27 schools in the Tamil-dominated Northern province and the other on building a surgical ward and supplying medical equipment to the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital in the East.
Sri Lanka also proposed partnership in setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Trincomalee and increase cooperation in aviation sector.
Wickremesinghe also proposed to make the Joint Commission meeting an annual affair. The two leaders also talked about state university linkages. The Joint Commission was set up in 1992 as a mechanism to address issues of bilateral cooperation. The last meeting of the Joint Commission was held in New Delhi in January 2013.
Did You Know???
- The fishermen issue continues to be a major irritant in the Indo-Lanka ties.
- Sri Lanka accuses Indian fishermen of straying into its territorial waters, while the latter maintain they are only fishing in their traditional areas, especially around Katchatheevu, an islet ceded to Colombo in 1974.
