Iranian President to visit Sri Lanka on Wednesday

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. Ebrahim Raisi is scheduled to make an official bilateral visit to Sri Lanka at the invitation of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to jointly declare open the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project on 24 April (Wednesday), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed.

The Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project, funded by Sri Lanka and Iran, is designed to generate and add 120 Megawatt electricity to Sri Lanka’s national grid and provide irrigation to approximately 25,000 acres of paddy lands in the south eastern part of Sri Lanka.

The Iranian President is currently on a three-day trip to neighboring Pakistan as part of efforts by both countries to mend relations that were strained earlier this year.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, April 22, in Islamabad in their first meeting since their countries exchanged missile strikes in February.

Raisi will travel to Sri Lanka after wrapping up his Pakistan visit.

On the second leg of his tour, Raeisi will pay an official day-long visit to Colombo on Wednesday at the invitation of Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Iranian media reported.

The two presidents plan to hold a private meeting and attend the inaugural ceremony of a multipurpose development project, named Uma Oya, consisted of two dams and a power plant with 120MW hydropower generation capacity.

The project, which has been designed and manufactured by Iranian experts, valued at 529 million dollars, was originally scheduled to be completed in 2015, but was suspended several times due to sanctions on Iran and several other issues.

--With Agencies Inputs