India's Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will pay a two-day visit to Sri Lanka beginning Friday, in reflection of deeper bilateral engagement at a time the island nation is reeling under an economic crisis.

Muraleedharan is scheduled to meet Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry.

The trip by Muraleedharan to Colombo comes nearly two weeks after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka.

“At the invitation of the government of Sri Lanka, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will visit Sri Lanka on February 3 and 4 to participate in 75th Independence Day celebrations of Sri Lanka,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

The Sri Lankan Independence Day celebrations are on February 4.

“He will have separate bilateral interactions with the President and Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka. He will also have an interaction with the prominent members of the Indian diaspora,” Bagchi said.

During his meetings in Colombo, Jaishankar said the primary purpose of his visit to Sri Lanka was to express India's solidarity with the country during the difficult time.

Last month, Sri Lanka thanked India for its generous support of a USD 3.9 billion credit line extended to it last year and the assurances given by New Delhi to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restructure the country's debt.

Sri Lanka, which is trying to secure a USD 2.9 billion bridge loan from the IMF, was negotiating to get financial assurances from its major creditors - China, Japan, and India, which is the requisite for Colombo to get the bailout package. (PTI)

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