Sri Lanka is the neighbouring countries of India. India and Sri Lanka have a long history of cultural, religious, and trade ties dating back to ancient times. There are strong cultural ties between the two countries, with many Sri Lankans tracing their heritage to India. Buddhism, which originated in India, is also an important religion in Sri Lanka.
The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is more than 2,500 years old. Both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction. Political relations between the two countries have been marked by high level exchanges of visits at regular intervals.
India has played a role in collaborating with the International Monetary Fund and creditors to help Sri Lanka in restructuring its deft. India became the first country to hand over its letter of support for financing and debt restructuring of Sri Lanka.
Relations between the two countries have also matured and diversified with the passage of time, encompassing all areas of contemporary relevance. The shared cultural and social heritage of the two countries and the extensive people to people interaction of their citizens provide the foundation to build a multi faceted partnership.
Sri Lanka has long been a priority destination for direct investment from India. Sri Lanka is one of India’s largest trading partners in SAARC ( South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation). Trade between the two countries grew particularly rapidly after the entry into force of the India- Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement in March 2000. According to Sri Lanka Customs, bilateral trade in 2018 amounted to US $ 4.93 billion.
Sri Lanka is among the major recipients of development assistance from the Government of India. India’s overall commitment stands close to US $ 3 billion, out of which around US $ 560 million are purely in grants. The Indian Housing Project, with an initial commitment to build 50,000 houses for the war affected as well as the estate workers in the plantation areas, is Goverment of India flagship project of development assistance to Sri Lanka.
Both countries have agreed on a joint vision that emphasises comprehensive connectivity, including people to people connectivity, renewable energy cooperation, logistics, port connectivity, and grid connectivity for electricity trade.
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