EAM Jaishankar to visit Sri Lanka on Dec 23, hold talks with top leadership

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Sri Lanka as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Special Envoy to hold talks with top leaders. The visit comes amid India’s ongoing humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka following Cyclone Ditwah.

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar will visit Sri Lanka on Tuesday as Special Envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold talks with the top leadership of the island nation.

“The visit underscores India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and takes place in the context of Operation Sagar Bandhu launched to address the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated.

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India launched Operation Sagar Bandhu on November 28, as the First Responder in the immediate aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Ditwah, to provide urgent Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) support to Sri Lanka.

Last week, India delivered relief supplies to various regions of flood-hit Sri Lanka, reflecting its steadfast commitment to assisting the neighbouring nation in times of crisis during Operation Sagar Bandhu.

On December 18, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha, visited the Kolonnawa suburb of Colombo and the Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home ‘Gokulam’ in Wattala – areas that have been severely affected by floods in the wake of Cyclone Ditwah.

As part of India’s continued assistance to the island nation, High Commissioner Jha distributed assistance kits among families in Kolonnawa in coordination with All Ceylon Sufi Spiritual Association and among children of ‘Gokulam’ at the ISKCON Temple in Colombo, where they have been relocated.