In talks with India on two Dornier aircraft: Sri Lanka FM
Date
2/10/2022 7:54:59 AM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
New Delhi and Colombo are discussing a proposal for the supply of two Dornier aircraft for the Sri Lankan military.
In an interview to The Indian Express, Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister G L Peiris, who met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval in New Delhi, said:“There is a proposal for the purchase of two Dornier aircraft. There is no finality, nothing has been agreed upon. There are proposals and counter proposals, and it is one of the matters under discussion.”
He said one of the matters discussed during his visit was the upcoming UN Human Rights Council session, where Sri Lanka has been repeatedly hauled up for falling back on its 2015 commitments to address rights violations towards post-war national reconciliation.
His visit comes weeks after India provided an economic lifeline to Colombo that includes a $500-million revolving credit line from Exim Bank of India, a $1-bn credit line for food and pharmaceuticals, a deferral on the settlement of $515 million with the Asian Clearing Union, and a currency swap facility of $400 million.
There was no discussion about the implementation of the 13th Amendment in his meetings, Peiris said. Last month, Sri Lankan Tamil parliamentarians had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi , seeking India's assistance in the implementation of this constitutional provision for devolution of powers that was included during India's 1987 intervention.
Peiris, who assumed office in August 2021, said relations between India and Sri Lanka had reached a“high point”. India's concerns about China, which he said had no“rational basis”, had been“consigned to the past”. However, he flagged the fishermen's issue between the two countries as“the one flashpoint”, requiring“urgent attention”.
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