India and Sri Lanka have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction which is 2,500 years old. In recent years, the relationship has been marked by close contacts at all levels. Trade and investment have grown and there is cooperation in the fields of development, education, culture and defence.
Recent Developments
|
The nearly three-decade long armed conflict between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE came to an end in May 2009. The need for national reconciliation through a political settlement of the ethnic issue has been reiterated by India at the highest levels. India’s consistent position is in favour of a negotiated political settlement, which is acceptable to all communities within the framework of a united Sri Lanka and which is consistent with democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights.
In recent years, significant progress in implementation of developmental assistance projects for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and disadvantaged sections of the population in Sri Lanka has helped further cement the bonds of friendship between the two countries.
Commercial Relations
The economic relations between the two countries have opened up only since the end of the Cold War. Sri Lanka was, as a matter of fact, the first South Asian economy to go for liberalization way back in 1978. By the end of the Cold War, trade began to increase with India as India liberalized its economy. Both have tried to rectify trade practices through a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). India and Sri Lanka signed the FTA in 1998, which finally became operational in 2001. The India–Sri Lanka FTA gives duty free preferential access to each other’s goods in a time-bound manner.
Sri Lanka is currently India’s largest trade partner in South Asia and bilateral trade has reached nearly US$ 5 billion. India has also emerged as the number one source country as far as Foreign Direct Investment and tourist arrivals are concerned.
Bilateral Investment
e-TV scheme
|
Developmental Cooperation India assists on a large number of smaller development projects in areas like education, health, transport connectivity, small and medium enterprise development and training in many parts of the country through its grant funding.
|
Cultural Relations
The Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed by the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka on 29 November, 1977 at New Delhi forms the basis for periodic Cultural Exchange Programmes between the two countries.