Sri Lanka looked to Gujarat model of development, says SL Envoy

VIDEO | Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Mahishini Colonne, met Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar, discussing ways to strengthen economic, trade, and tourism ties between the two nations. She also expressed solidarity with India over the recent Delhi… pic.twitter.com/a42qyRZAmu

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After meeting Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India, Mahishini Colonne, said that Sri Lanka has looked up to Gujarat’s development ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister there.

Colonne, while speaking to reporters, drew similarities between Sri Lanka and Gujarat as maritime states and nations, highlighting areas of cooperation.

“I conveyed to the Chief Minister the greetings of the President of Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who visited India in December last year. And I also conveyed the greetings of the government and people of Sri Lanka. I explained to him that the people of Sri Lanka have been watching Gujarat and Gujarat’s progress and development for long years, ever since Prime Minister Modi was Chief Minister of Gujarat and that the people of Sri Lanka actually looked to the Gujarat model of development as a model,” she said.

She further said that Sri Lanka has lot of interest in Gujarat.

“There has been lots of interest in Gujarat. I also told him about the ancient links between Gujarat and Sri Lanka because Gujarat has the longest coastline and both the people in Gujarat and the people in Sri Lanka are both seafaring nations. And we are maritime nations in that sense. Gujarat is a maritime state, Sri Lanka is a maritime nation. We both have deep water ports, and Sri Lanka handles a large volume of India’s transhipment trade,” she said.

Colonne recalled Sri Lankan Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya’s visit to India, where she offered that India can use Sri Lanka’s ports as gateways to the world.

“When our Prime Minister was here last month, she emphasized that India can use Sri Lanka’s ports as gateways to the world. So, we discussed all this. And then we also discussed about opportunities in textiles, pharmaceuticals, hospitality industry, tourism,” she said.

Colonne said that the signing of an MoU between the parties will pave the way for greater collaboration.

“I think the areas for cooperation between Gujarat and Sri Lanka are limitless. And I told him that this morning we signed an MoU, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry and that will probably be the start or the first step in a fruitful collaborative partnership between Gujarat and Sri Lanka for mutual prosperity of Gujarat and the people in Gujarat and the people in Sri Lanka,” she said. 

Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), organised an Interactive Meeting with the Sri Lankan Delegation on Thursday.

A key highlight was the signing of an MoU between GCCI and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) to promote bilateral trade, foster business collaborations and strengthen economic ties between India and Sri Lanka.

Source: ANI

--Agencies