Sri Lanka, India to enhance cooperation in defence, trade and energy: Envoy

High-level visits from the Indian side to Sri Lanka, including by foreign secretary Harsh Shringla and army chief Gen MM Naravane, have helped bridge a trust deficit and prepare the ground for re-energising relations, Sri Lankan high commissioner Milinda Moragoda said on Saturday.

Moragoda described the feeling in some quarters in New Delhi that China has strengthened its position in Sri Lanka at the cost of India as only a “perception”, and said in an interview that New Delhi and Colombo were close to enhancing cooperation in areas ranging from trade to defence and energy.