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Dr S Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister (EAM) who was on a day long visit to Sri Lanka met Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Both virtual commissioned a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and the virtual handing over of 154 houses built under the Govt of India housing schemes.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Sri Lanka is built under a USD 6 million grant from India.

It includes a centre at Navy Head Quarters in Colombo, a sub-centre in Hambantota and unmanned installations at Galle, Arugambay, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kallarawa, Point Pedro and Mollikulam

President Wickremesinghe and EAM Jaishankar also launched, virtually, 106 houses in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Matale under the Indian Housing Project, as well as 24 houses in each model village in Colombo and Trincomalee.

In posts on X (twitter), the Dr Jaishankar said: “Joined Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Ministers and senior officials at the virtual commissioning of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) and virtual handing over of 154 houses under GOl housing schemes.”

“Honoured to call on Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Conveyed the warm greetings of PM @narendramodi. Appreciated the progress made on various bilateral projects and initiatives. Under President @RW_UNP’s guidance, discussed the way forward for the India-Sri Lanka cooperation, especially in power, energy, connectivity, port infrastructure, aviation, digital, health, food security, education and tourism sectors.

Later Jaishankar also met Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. It may be mentioned that this is External Affairs Minister’s first bilateral visit to Sri Lanka after the general elections.