India in Sri Lanka

🌏✨ Building Bridges, Expanding Horizons! 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 FIEO had the privilege of hosting a distinguished delegation of about 30 officials from the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka, as part of the Capacity Building Programme by IIFT, New Delhi under the aegis of the High Commission of India, Colombo (MEA) at Niryat Bhawan, New Delhi on March 19, 2026 🎤 Dr Ajay Sahai, DG & CEO, FIEO, addressed the delegation, highlighting FIEO’s key initiatives, its role in empowering exporters, and how it mentors businesses to succeed globally 🌐📈 — strengthening India’s global footprint in international trade. 👥 The session was also attended by Mr Suvidh Shah, Addl. DG, FIEO, along with senior officials of FIEO, and Dr (Prof) Rohit Mehtani, International Business Strategy and Global Political Economy, IIFT adding valuable insights on global trade and strategy. 💡 An engaging exchange of ideas fostering collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and stronger India–Sri Lanka trade relations! #FIEO #GlobalTrade #IndiaSriLanka #CapacityBuilding #ExportPromotion #InternationalTrade #EconomicGrowth #TradeLeadership #IIFT #MEA #BusinessExpansion #KnowledgeExchange #TradeDiplomacy #StrongerTogether 🚀📊 @CeylonChamber @iift_official @IndiainSL @SLinIndia @MEAIndia @MFASriLanka @DoC_GoI @dgftindia @startupindia @makeinindia

During the meeting, Proof of Concept of the mobile broadcast Early Warning System (EWS) was also demonstrated by the C-DOT, a premier R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.

High Commissioner @santjha joined Hon. Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister for Digital Economy 🇱🇰 for a demonstration of the disaster impact assessment platform developed by Bhaskaracharya Institute of Space Applications & Geoinformatics (BISAG) in collaboration & support from Disaster Management Centre, Ministry of Digital Economy & GovTech 🇱🇰 Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Chief Advisor to the President on Digital Economy & Mr Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Secretary, Ministry of Digital Economy, DG DMC and GoSL officials joined the demonstration and discussions Both sides discussed continued collaboration on building geospatial platforms for disaster preparedness, response & mitigation. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

தொடர்புகளை மீளமைத்து, வாழ்வாதாரத்தை நிலைநாட்டல். 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 டித்வாவுக்கு பின்னரான 450 மில்லியன் அமெரிக்க டொலர் இந்திய உதவி பொதியின் கீழ் இந்தியாவால் இலங்கையில் அமைக்கப்பட்ட அதிக நீளமும் அகலமும் கொண்ட பெய்லி பாலத்தை பொது நிர்வாகம், மாகாண சபைகள் மற்றும் உள்ளூராட்சி அமைச்சர் கௌரவ. பேராசிரியர் A.H.M.H. அபயரத்ன அவர்களுடன் இணைந்து உயர் ஸ்தானிகர் திறந்து வைத்தார். சிலாபம் - தொடுவாவ வீதியில் @adgpi ஆல் அமைக்கப்பட்ட இந்த 240 அடி பாலம் கொழும்பு - புத்தளம் மார்க்கத்துடனான முக்கிய கரையோர இணைப்பினை மீளமைத்துள்ளது.

මාර්ග සම්බන්ධතා යළි ගොඩනගමින්, ජීවනෝපායන් ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කරමින්! 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 මහ කොමසාරිස්තුමා සහ 🇱🇰 රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන, පළාත් සභා සහ පළාත් පාලන අමාත්‍ය ගරු (මහාචාර්ය) ඒ. එච්. එම්. එච්. අබයරත්න මැතිතුමා විසින් ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 450ක පශ්චාත් දිට්වා ඉන්දීය සහන පැකේජය යටතේ ඉන්දියාව විසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉදි කළ දිගම බේලි පාලම විවෘත කරන ලදී. මෙම පාලම ඉතා පුළුල් වීම ද විශේෂත්වයකි. @adgpi විසින් හලාවත-තෝඩුවාව පාරේ ඉදි කළ අඩි 240ක පාලම කොළඹ-පුත්තලම මාර්ගයේ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය මුහුදුබඩ මාර්ග සම්බන්ධතාවයක් ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කර ඇත. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @SpokespersonMoD

Reviving connectivity, restoring livelihoods.🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 HC @santjha along with Hon. (Prof.) A.H.M.H. Abayarathna, Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils & Local Government, 🇱🇰, inaugurated the longest extra-wide Bailey Bridge installed by India in Sri Lanka under the Post-Ditwah Indian Assistance Package of USD 450 Mn. The 240 ft bridge, constructed by @adgpi on the Chilaw–Thoduwawa Road, restores a vital coastal link along the Colombo–Puttalam route. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @SpokespersonMoD

📹 දිට්වා සුළි කුණාටුවෙන් අනතුරුව කොළඹ-පුත්තලම මාර්ගය යළි ගොඩනැගේ 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 ආපදාවෙන් අනතුරුව ඉන්දියාව විසින් පිරිනමන ලද ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 450ක සහන පැකේජය යටතේ @adgpi විසින් හලාවත-තෝඩුවාව මාර්ගයේ ඉදිකරන ලද අඩි 240ක දිගකින් යුත්, ඉතා පුළුල් බේලි පාලම මහ කොමසාරිස්තුමා සහ ගරු අමාත්‍ය (මහාචාර්ය) ඒ. එච්. එම්. එච්. අබයරත්න මැතිතුමා විසින් විවෘත කරන ලදී.

📹 Reconstruction of the Colombo–Puttalam Road post #CycloneDitwah 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 HC @santjha and Hon. (Prof.) A.H.M.H. Abayarathna inaugurated the 240 ft, extra-wide Bailey Bridge on the Chilaw–Thoduwawa Road, built by @adgpi under India’s USD 450 Mn post-disaster assistance. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @adgpi @SpokespersonMoD

ප්‍රජාවන් යළි සම්බන්ධ කරමින්, මාර්ග සම්බන්ධතා ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කරමින්! 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 450ක පශ්චාත් දිට්වා සහන පැකේජය යටතේ හලාවත-තෝඩුවාව පාරේ ඉදි කරන ලද අඩි 240ක දිගින් යුත් ඉතා පුළුල් බේලි පාලම මහ කොමසාරිස්තුමා සහ ගරු අමාත්‍ය (මහාචාර්ය) ඒ. එච්. එම්. එච්. අබයරත්න මැතිතුමා විසින් විවෘත කරන ලදී. මෙම පාලම කොළඹ-පුත්තලම පාරේ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය මාර්ග සම්බන්ධතාවයක් ප්‍රතිෂ්ඨාපනය කරමින් ප්‍රදේශයේ ජනතාවගේ ජීවනෝපාය කටයුතු පහසු කරනු ඇත. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @adgpi @SpokespersonMoD

Reconnecting communities and restoring connectivity. 🇮🇳🤝🇱🇰 Under the USD 450 million post-Ditwah assistance package, HC @santjha and Hon. Minister (Prof.) A.H.M.H. Abayarathna inaugurated the 240 ft extra-wide Bailey Bridge on the Chilaw–Thoduwawa Road, re-establishing a vital link along the Colombo–Puttalam route and supporting local livelihoods. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @adgpi @SpokespersonMoD

A group of 30 local government representatives from 🇱🇰 successfully completed a 10-day capacity-building programme at the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, spanning Telangana and Tamil Nadu. Through interactive sessions and field visits, the programme focused on best practices in local governance and sustainable development, strengthening knowledge exchange and institutional linkages between 🇮🇳 & 🇱🇰. The initiative is part of 🇮🇳's enhanced capacity-building framework covering 1000 🇱🇰 civil service officers and professionals annually. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

High Commissioner @santjha met Hon K.D. Lal Kantha, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land & Irrigation. They discussed opportunities for collaboration with a view to increase productivity, especially usage of cost effective technology to boost farmer’s incomes. They also took stock of regional and global developments, and the need for partners like 🇮🇳 and 🇱🇰 to work together. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

இந்தியாவுக்கும் இலங்கைக்கும் இடையிலான ஆழமான கலாசார மற்றும் ஆன்மீக உறவுகளுக்கு மரியாதை வழங்கும் முகமாக சிலாபத்தில் உள்ள ஶ்ரீ முன்னேஸ்வரம் தேவஸ்தானம் மற்றும் ஶ்ரீ மானாவரி ஆலயத்தில் உயர் ஸ்தானிகர் அவர்கள் வழிபாட்டினை மேற்கொண்டிருந்தார். இவ்விரு ஆலயங்களும் இராமாயண தடத்தில் மிகவும் முக்கியமான தலங்களாக கருதப்படுவதுடன் இந்தியா மற்றும் இலங்கையைச் சேர்ந்த பெருமளவான பக்தர்கள் இவ்வாலயங்களுக்கு விஜயம் செய்து வழிபடுகின்றமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

🇮🇳 සහ 🇱🇰 අතර පවතින ගැඹුරු සංස්කෘතික සහ ආධ්‍යාත්මික සබඳතා පිළිබිඹු කරමින් මහ කොමසාරිස්තුමා හලාවත ශ්‍රී මුන්නේශ්වරම් කෝවිල සහ ශ්‍රී මානාවරි කෝවිල වැඳ පුදා ගත්තේය. මෙම කෝවිල් දෙක රාමායණය හා සබැඳි ස්ථාන ලෙස වැදගත්කමක් උසුළන අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සහ ඉන්දියාවේ බැතිමතුන් විශාල වශයෙන් පැමිණෙන පූජනීය ස්ථාන ද්විත්වයක් වේ. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

Paying homage to the deep cultural and spiritual ties between 🇮🇳 and 🇱🇰, HC @santjha offered prayers at Sri Munneswaram Devasthanam and Sri Manavari Kovil in Chilaw. The two temples are considered important sites on the 'Ramayana Trail' and are visited by devotees, both from 🇮🇳 and 🇱🇰, in large numbers. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

வட மேல் மாகாண ஆளுநர் கௌரவ திஸ்ஸ குமாரசிறி வர்ணசூரிய அவர்களை உயர் ஸ்தானிகர் சந்தித்திருந்தார். டித்வா புயலுக்கு பின்னர் இந்தியாவால் இலங்கைக்கு வழங்கப்பட்ட 450 மில்லியன் அமெரிக்க டொலர் மீள் நிர்மாண உதவியின் கீழ் இம்மாகாணத்தில் முன்னெடுக்கப்பட்டுவரும் செயல் திட்டங்களின் முன்னேற்றம் குறித்து ஆளுநருக்கு தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டதுடன், பல்வேறு துறைகளிலும் இருதரப்பு ஒத்துழைப்பினை மேம்படுத்துவதற்கான சிந்தனைகள் குறித்தும் கலந்துரையாடப்பட்டது.

මහ කොමසාරිස්තුමා වයඹ පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාර ගරු තිස්ස කුමාරසිරි වර්ණසූරිය මහතා හමු විය. ඉන්දියාව විසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පිරිනමන ලද ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 450ක පශ්චාත් දිට්වා පුනරුත්ථාපන සහන පැකේජය යටතේ පළාත තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මක ව්‍යාපෘතීන් හි ප්‍රගතිය පිළිබඳව ආණ්ඩුකාරතුමා දැනුවත් කරන ලදී. විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍රයන්හි ද්විපාර්ශ්වික සහයෝගීතාවය තවදුරටත් ඉහළ නැංවීම පිළිබඳව අදහස් හුවමාරු කරගන්නා ලදී. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

HC @santjha interacted with Governor of North Western Province Hon. Tissa Kumarasiri Varnasuriya. Informed him about progress on initiatives in the province under the USD 450 million post-Ditwah rehabilitation assistance from 🇮🇳 to 🇱🇰, and exchanged ideas on further enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse areas. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

🇮🇳🇱🇰 மக்களிடையிலான உறவின் மற்றொரு தனித்துவமான அம்சத்துக்கான சமர்ப்பணம்! உடப்புக்கு விஜயம் செய்திருந்த இந்திய உயர் ஸ்தானிகர் அவர்கள் புத்தளம் மாவட்டத்திலுள்ள தனிச்சிறப்பு மிக்க இக்கிராம மக்களுடன் சந்திப்பினை மேற்கொண்டிருந்தார். இம்மக்கள் தென் இந்தியாவின் இராமேஸ்வரத்தை பூர்வீகமாக கொண்டவர்கள். இச்சந்திப்பின் போது தமது முன்னோர்கள் இராமேஸ்வரத்தின் தங்கச்சிமடம் பகுதியிலிருந்து 17 ஆம் நூற்றாண்டு காலப்பகுதியில் இலங்கைக்கு வருகைதந்திருந்ததாகவும், இன்று வரை தங்களின் தனித்துவமான பாரம்பரியங்களையும், சடங்குகளையும் தொடர்ந்து பாதுகாத்து வருவதாகவும் அம்மக்கள் கூறியிருந்தனர்.

🇮🇳🇱🇰 දෙරට ජනතාව අතර පවතින සබඳතා හි තවත් සුවිශේෂි පැතිකඩක්! මහ කොමසාරිස්තුමා දකුණු ඉන්දියාවේ රාමේෂ්වරම් ප්‍රදේශයට නෑකම් කියන පුත්තලම දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ උඩප්පුව ගම්මානය වෙත ගියේය. තම මුතුන් මිත්තන් 17 වන සියවසේදී රාමේෂ්වරම් හි තංගච්චිමඩම් ප්‍රදේශයේ සිට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ ඇති බව ද සිය සුවිශේෂී සම්ප්‍රදායන් අද දක්වාම ආරක්ෂා කරගනිමින් පවත්වාගෙන ගොස් ඇති බව ද එහිදී ප්‍රදේශවාසීන් විසින් ප්‍රකාශ කරන ලදී.

A tribute to yet another distinctive facet of 🇮🇳🇱🇰 people-to-people ties! High Commissioner @santjha visited Udappuwa and met with the residents of this unique village in Puttalam District, who trace their roots to Rameshwaram in Southern India. During the interaction, the residents conveyed that their ancestors came to 🇱🇰 from Thangachimadam in Rameshwaram in the 17th century, and they have preserved their distinctive traditions and customs to date. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

ரமழான் மகிழ்வினை வியாபித்தல்! மிஹ்ரைபுரம் ஜும்மா மஸ்ஜித்தில் புத்தளத்தில் உள்ள உதவிகள் தேவைப்படும் குடும்பங்களுக்காக உயர் ஸ்தானிகரால் அத்தியாவசிய பொருட்கள் வழங்கப்பட்டன. இப்புனித மாதத்தின் ஆரம்ப நாட்களிலும், உள்ளூர் அமைப்புகள் மற்றும் சமூக உறுப்பினர்களின் ஒத்துழைப்புடன் கொழும்பின் பல்வேறு பாகங்களிலும் உள்ள உதவிகள் தேவைப்படும் குடும்பங்களுக்காக உயர் ஸ்தானிகராலயத்தால் அத்தியாவசிய பொருட்கள் மற்றும் பண்டிகை பொதிகள் வழங்கிவைக்கப்பட்டன.

@MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy මෙම ශුද්ධ වූ මාසය මුලදී ද මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය දේශීය සංගම් සහ ප්‍රජා සාමාජිකයන් සමඟ සම්බන්ධීකරණයෙන් කොළඹ විවිධ ප්‍රදේශවල වෙසෙන අවශ්‍යතා සහිත පවුල් වෙත උත්සව කට්ටල සහ අත්‍යවශ්‍ය ද්‍රව්‍ය බෙදා දෙන ලදී.

Spreading #Ramadan Cheer! High Commissioner @santjha distributed essential supplies among needy families in Puttalam at the Mihraipuram Jumma Masjid. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

📚 கொழும்பு மேயர் கௌரவ @VraieB அவர்களால் நடத்தப்படும் "நாளைய கொழும்பு" நிகழ்வின் அங்கமாக கொழும்பு பொது நூலகத்துக்கான நூல்கள், இந்திய உயர் ஸ்தானிகராலயத்தால் அன்பளிப்பு செய்யப்பட்டன. '100க்கு 100' திட்டத்திற்கான பங்களிப்பாகவும், இந்நூலகத்தில் 2024 ஆகஸ்ட் 12 அன்று அமைக்கப்பட்ட 'பாரத் கோஷ்' இற்கு (India Corner) வலுச்சேர்க்கும் முகமாகவும் இந்நூல்கள் வழங்கப்பட்டன. எதிர்கால கொழும்பை சித்தரிக்கும் வகையில் பாடசாலை மாணவர்களால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட ஓவியங்களும் இங்கு காட்சிப்படுத்தப்பட்டிருந்தன.

📚 ඉන්දියානු මහ කොමසාරිස් කාර්යාලය විසින් '100 සඳහා 100' යන වැඩසටහන සඳහා දායකත්වයක් වශයෙන් සහ 2024 අගෝස්තු 12 වන දින විවෘත කරන ලද 'භාරත් කෝෂ්' සඳහා වන ග්‍රන්ථ එකතුවක් ලෙස කොළඹ මහජන පුස්තකාලයට පොත් පරිත්‍යාගයක් සිදු කරන ලදී. මෙම පොත් පරිත්‍යාගය කොළඹ නගරාධිපතිනි @VraieB මහත්මිය විසින් පවත්වන ලද ‘Tomorrow’s Colombo' යන වැඩසටහනේදී පරිත්‍යාග කරන ලදී. අනාගත කොළඹ පිළිබඳ පාසල් සිසු සිසුවියන් විසින් ඉදිරිපත් කරන ලද විචිත්‍ර සිතුවම් රැසක් ද මෙහිදී ප්‍රදර්ශනයට තබා තිබිණ. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy

📚 @IndiainSL donated books to the Colombo Public Library, at the event ‘Tomorrow’s Colombo’ hosted by Mayor of Colombo @VraieB, as a contribution to the ‘100 for 100’ campaign and building on the Bharat Kosh (India Corner) inaugurated on 12 Aug 2024 at the library. The event featured vibrant illustrations by school children depicting a future Colombo. @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy