MOU on Defence Cooperation to boost regional security and stability: Indian Foreign Secretary

Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri addressing a press conference in Colombo on Saturday said both, India  and Sri Lanka concluded a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation providing further impetus to the existing defence partnership, signifying their shared commitment to regional security and stability.

Mr Misri  elaborated on the visit of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Sri Lanka.

Full text of the press conference:

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon, friends, I welcome you to this special Press Briefing by Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri on the ongoing State Visit of Prime Minister to Sri Lanka. We also have with us High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Shri Santosh Jha, as also Additional Secretary (IOR) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Puneet Agrawal. With that, I invite Foreign Secretary Sir to make his opening remarks.

Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Thank you Randhir, good afternoon all, and thank you for joining us for this briefing on the ongoing State Visit by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka.

As you are aware, Prime Minister Modi is the first foreign Head of State or Head of Government to be hosted by the President of Sri Lanka since the latter's assumption of office last year in September 2024. Earlier in December last year, President Anura Kumara Disanayaka chose India as his first overseas destination for a State Visit after assuming office.

These two visits happening in quick succession demonstrate the rather special and unique nature of the India-Sri Lanka partnership. The ongoing visit is a very substantive one, and rich in outcomes.

So let me take you through a little bit of what has happened since the arrival of Prime Minister yesterday late in the evening, and some of the discussions that have already taken place today.

So you would be aware that after concluding his engagements at the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok in Thailand, the Prime Minister arrived yesterday evening in Colombo to a very warm welcome. He was received by six Cabinet Ministers of the Government of Sri Lanka, led by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.

Later on at the hotel, he received a very warm welcome from the Indian community that had gathered there in good numbers.

Several collaborative works featuring common cultural themes from India and Sri Lanka such as Sri Lankan audio book of stories from the Panchatantra, the Jataka tales, the Hitopdesh and the Pali composition of Gita Govinda, etc. were on display to mark the occasion.

Earlier this morning, the Prime Minister was received by President Disanayaka for a ceremonial welcome at Colombo's iconic Independence Square.

I am told that the Independence Square has been used for such a ceremony, possibly for the first time ever to welcome a foreign Head of State or Head of Government. The ceremonial welcome was followed by official discussions between the Prime Minister and President Disanayaka at the Presidential Secretariat. The two leaders held a restricted meeting followed by delegation level talks.

They were able to review developments in the relationship and the progress made on the Joint Vision of Fostering Partnerships for a Shared Future that had been adopted during President Disanayaka's visit to India last year.

They took stock of ongoing cooperation in the fields of connectivity, development projects, economic ties, defence relations, people-to-people ties, reconciliation, fishermen related issues and provided guidance for further steps to be taken. After the discussions, the leaders oversaw the exchange of as many as seven agreements and memoranda of understanding.

They virtually inaugurated the construction of the Sampur solar power project. They also inaugurated the recently completed temperature-controlled warehousing facility at Dambulla, which is possibly the first facility of its kind in the island, and a project for supply of solar rooftop systems to nearly 5,000 religious institutions across Sri Lanka.

As you can see, even as progress has been made on several items that had been outlined in the joint statement, there are a few new ones that have been added from this visit as well, and some of those were reflected in Prime Minister's press statement as well a short while ago.

Demonstrating our continued commitment to assist Sri Lanka in its economic recovery, India has concluded the debt restructuring process with Sri Lanka, with the exchange of the bilateral amendatory agreements on debt restructuring. We have, as you would be aware, been pursuing an investment-led strategy with Sri Lanka, together with a grant assistance-oriented approach to ensure that Sri Lanka is firmly on the path to sustainable and long-term economic recovery.

There is a recognition also at the Leadership level that the security interests of India and Sri Lanka are interlinked. Both leaders made this point emphatically today, both in their restricted as well as at the delegation level talks, and then during the Press Statements as well. And it is on the basis of this understanding that today the two sides concluded an MOU on Defence Cooperation, providing further impetus to the existing defence partnership, signifying their shared commitment to regional security and stability.

This visit has also been particularly significant for the energy cooperation domain between the two countries, where we have achieved some new milestones. The first amongst those that I would refer to is the exchange of, or rather the MOU that has been concluded between the two sides on electricity grid interconnection. This is a project that has been on the drawing board for some time, and with the signature of this MOU, work will start in earnest on realizing it on the ground.

The other significant MOU in the energy space that I would highlight is the trilateral MOU for developing Trincomalee as an energy hub.

This is an MOU that has been signed between India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. This is an initiative designed to ensure Sri Lanka's energy security, provisioning of energy at affordable rates, and also to possibly contribute revenue for Sri Lanka through export earnings of energy generated at this project.

The MOU on digital transformation, which was also exchanged today, will enable the development and scaling up of digital solutions for Sri Lanka across the entire digital public infrastructure domain.

We have also during this visit formalized understandings to undertake socio-economic projects, focusing on livelihood assistance, agriculture, capacity building, education and other fields, in the eastern province especially, at a cost of Lankan Rs 2.37 billion.

These projects are funded through grant assistance. Bilateral cooperation in the field of health has also seen a boost through the conclusion of MOUs on cooperation in the fields of health and medicine, as well as the recognition of Indian pharmacopoeia by Sri Lanka.

These understandings will facilitate the expansion of cooperation in the domain of health, including provisioning of high quality and affordable medicines to the people of Sri Lanka.

In terms of inaugurations, I have referred to the groundbreaking of the 120 MW Sampur solar power project by both leaders. This will support Sri Lanka in its clean energy transition, reduce electricity costs for consumers, create jobs and stimulate growth.

Similarly, the joint inauguration of the supply of solar rooftop systems to 5,000 religious institutions across Sri Lanka will help enhance energy security for various establishments, and contribute up to 25 MW of solar electricity to Sri Lanka.

You would perhaps also have noted the Prime Minister's announcement as a very, very special gesture, and emblematic of the civilizational, cultural and religious ties between the two countries. The announcement of the support for realizing the Sacred City project in Anuradhapura.

This goes together with the development of the Thirukoneswaram temple in Trincomalee. Some of you would be aware that this is known as the Kailash of the South. And a third project in the same space, which is the development of the Sita Eliya temple complex in Nuwara Eliya.

The Prime Minister also announced that some relics of Lord Buddha, which were found in Aravali in Gujarat during excavations, would be sent to Sri Lanka for an exposition, possibly coinciding with the international Vesak Day festival celebrations in May 2025.

India has always been a significant contributor to capacity building initiatives for Sri Lanka. And in this domain too, during this visit, we have seen the announcement of a comprehensive package of training for 700 Sri Lankan citizens annually from different sectors. People hailing from the legislative, judicial and the media sectors in particular. These training slots are over and above the regular slots that are available to Sri Lankan nationals under the ITEC program of India.

One of the developments of note during this visit, and which was a very special moment during the Press Statements and the inaugurations, as well as the exchanges of MOU ceremony that was held earlier, was the conferment by President Disanayaka upon the Prime Minister of the highest Sri Lankan honor for Heads of State and Heads of Government of friendly nations, the Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana award, which is a recognition of the role of the Prime Minister in strengthening and transforming the India-Sri Lanka partnership. In particular, the unprecedented assistance that India rendered to Sri Lanka during the economic crisis a few years ago.

Prime Minister is only the second foreign leader and the first Indian to be honored with this award, which he accepted, not only personally for himself but on behalf of 1.4 billion people of India. Later today, the Prime Minister will be meeting with the leader of the opposition, the Honorable Sajith Premadasa, as well as political leaders from the north and the east, as also the upcountry region.

He will also later this afternoon visit the IPKF memorial to lay a wreath there in remembrance of our brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

Tomorrow, the Prime Minister and President Disanayaka will together visit Anuradhapura to seek blessings at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple there and also inaugurate two railway projects that have been undertaken there with Indian assistance.

So overall, as I said in the beginning, this has been a very significant and substantive visit, rich in outcomes and has added significant momentum to our partnership.

It has reaffirmed India's stance of standing with the people of Sri Lanka as they continue on their journey of economic recovery and growth and has also underlined the fact that the well-being and prosperity and security of both countries is interlinked and that is something that has the imprint of both leaderships.

Let me stop here and if you have any questions, I would be happy to try and answer them.

Sahil Pandey, ANI: Good afternoon, I am Sahil Pandey from ANI News agency. Foreign Secretary, could you please share the components of the defense cooperation and also on the trilateral MOU which has been signed. Could you please share the roadmap and plan of action in that regard? Thank you.

Gautam Roy, DD India, DD News: Sir, this is Gautam Roy from DD India and DD News. I just want to ask a little bit more about the defense cooperation agreement. Because, we wanted to understand if it entails or has some elements in future, if not immediately, of Sri Lanka becoming an importer of defense platforms or weapons equipment from India, because last year India exported record amount, 2.76 billion dollars of defense equipment. And we are trying to be self-reliant in our own self-defense and would this then extend to that as well.

Manash Pratim Bhuyan, PTI: Good afternoon, Foreign Secretary. This is Manash from PTI, Press Trust of India. Just wanted to ask you about what kind of role United Arab Emirates will play in this project to develop Trincomalee as an energy hub. And my second query is, Sri Lanka is also expected to get some kind of adverse impact from the US sanctions, basically primarily the reciprocal tariff. So, did the Sri Lankan side raise the issue, and seek India's help if it is affected by the reciprocal tariff being imposed by the US?

Geeta Mohan, India Today: Geeta Mohan from India Today. Wanted to know about the issue of fishermen. Prime Minister Modi has announced relief for fishermen. But in terms of conversations with the Sri Lankan leadership, what's the kind of conversation on fishermen issue, as also given that Tamil Nadu passed a resolution on Katchatheevu. Did that also come up?

Dr. Farooqi, Akashvani & Doordarshan: This is Dr. Farooqi from Akashvani & Doordarshan. Foreign Secretary, just wanted to know what would be the scope of the development of Trincomalee as the energy hub, and how much would be the allocation from the Indian side and what would be the outcomes from that?

Rezaul H Laskar, Hindustan Times: Reza from Hindustan Times. Foreign Secretary, just a follow-up question on Trincomalee. Whether this would also involve some sort of a multi-product pipeline and whether there would be some sort of a reserve or a strategic reserve of petroleum or any other energy?

Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary: Okay, thank you. Well, insofar as, so I think there are … mostly everybody is focused on defense cooperation and the trilateral MOU for the development of Trincomalee as an energy hub, and tariffs and fishermen.

So, let me take the MOU on defense cooperation. I think this proceeds from the fact that we have had very good conversations between the two leaders. They started in December last year when President Disanayaka visited Delhi, and it continued during this visit, and one of the recurring themes in the discussions and in fact, I would say a point of really close convergence in the narratives from both sides has been a recognition of the completely interlinked nature of the national security of Sri Lanka and India.

And the President of Sri Lanka has both during his visit to Delhi and on this occasion and on several other occasions mentioned and stated very, very clearly that Sri Lankan territory will not be used or be allowed to be used in any manner that is inimical or detrimental to India's interests.

In fact, if I recall correctly during discussions today, he said that neither Sri Lanka's land nor the oceans around it will be allowed to be used in any manner inimical to India's security.

So, this is the background of the signature of the defense MOU between the two countries for the first time, and the MOU is in itself an umbrella framework document that will make existing defense cooperation initiatives more structured.

There will be activities related to, of course, the continuing and even intensifying the tradition of high-level visits between the two countries, more joint exercises, capacity building in various areas, exchanges in HADR related operations, increasing port calls by naval units of both countries, and also to explore defense industry cooperation between the two sides.

With regard to the questions related to the MOU on the development of Trincomalee as an energy hub. This is an MOU between India, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates. At the present moment, the way this is structured, it is a government-to-government MOU in order to provide the enabling framework, and to set out some of the broad terms of reference for this cooperation.

The immediate next step that will be enabled by this framework MOU is the identification and the nomination of specific agencies and entities that could be government entities or private sector entities or could be entities related to the governments themselves that will try and realize the business-to-business part of this agreement.

So, the actual projects that will be carried out will be discussed in detail by the designated business entities of the three sides, and that is the next step that will ensue. The UAE is a major energy partner for India. It is a strategic partner for India in the energy space, and it was therefore an ideal partner for this particular exercise that is being done for the first time in this region.

And what the exact contours of the UAE role will be is something that is going to be elaborated once the B2B discussions kick off under this MOU.

Insofar as the components of the activities are concerned, I think somebody asked about a multi-product pipeline. That is certainly one of the things that will be discussed under this particular MOU.

It is something that has been under discussion bilaterally also between India and Sri Lanka, but this is one of the projects which will be covered under this trilateral MOU.

There are a couple of other areas such as … you are aware that in Trincomalee we have the tank farms. Some of them are already being developed and utilized by Lanka IOC, but there are many more that are lying unused, and have not been put to use as yet.

And there is a possibility that they will also be developed and utilized under this particular MOU. Really, in the business space there are a number of initiatives possible for discussion under an MOU such as this. I imagine that once the entities get together, they will look at all issues related obviously to financing, to feasibility, to viability, etc., and come up with the projects that can be taken forward on the ground.

On fishermen, yes, this was, as I said, a subject that was discussed in considerable detail between the two sides. It is something that has remained a constant feature of discussions at all levels, including the highest levels between the two sides. As the Prime Minister said himself during his remarks, there was emphasis on the need to adopt a humanitarian and constructive approach to cooperation on these issues because these are ultimately issues that impact the livelihood of fishermen on both sides of the Palk Bay.

The Prime Minister emphasized that at the end of the day, it is a daily issue for the fishermen and that certain actions that have been taken in recent times could be reconsidered. We have been informed that the Sri Lankan authorities have taken a decision to release 11 fishermen imminently, I believe, and perhaps a few more in the coming days. There are also releases of fishermen that take place from India from time to time.

Both sides also emphasized the need to intensify the institutional discussions between the two sides. As you are aware, there is a joint working group on fishermen between the two sides. Its sixth meeting was held last year in October.

The representatives of the two Coast Guards that often engage with regard to issues such as repatriation and exchanges also took place recently in November of last year. Both sides are in touch with each other on the possibility of convening the next round of fishermen's association talks between Sri Lanka and India.

The idea is to continue this engagement and arrive at mutually acceptable ways to avoid some of the more difficult situations that arise as a result of this issue.

There was, I think, this question on tariffs. Look, it is obviously something that has impacted everybody. I think Sri Lanka is also dealing with this issue. There was a reference to this … or discussions on this during the meeting between the President and the Prime Minister.

I think the President of Sri Lanka emphasized in particular the importance in this regard given these kinds of geoeconomic developments that have a certain impact on Sri Lanka, especially given the economic situation now, and the economic passage that Sri Lanka is passing through at the current moment, that how important it would be in the current context for the relationship between India and Sri Lanka to be strengthened even further, especially in the economic space, in order to deal with the fallout of some of these developments.

Of course, the Prime Minister assured him that India would always continue to stand by Sri Lanka as it encountered and dealt with these difficulties.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: With that ladies and gentlemen we come to close of this press briefing. Thank you very much for your presence.