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Despite hectic diplomatic engagement with Sri Lanka in the recent past, a key Indian project in the island nation now stands cancelled. The Sri Lankan cabinet announced on February 1 that the country will operate the East Container Terminal (ECT) in the Colombo port as “a wholly owned” facility, going against a 2019 agreement that would have seen the ECT developed in a three-way partnership between India, Japan, and Sri Lanka. The Hindu, reporting on the development, had noted an Indian government source as saying about the possibility of Sri Lanka reneging on the 2019 Memorandum of Understanding: “We would hope that Sri Lanka does not unilaterally decide on this matter, as there is a tripartite agreement on it.”
India, Japan to partner Sri Lanka to develop Colombo Port s West Terminal dailynews.lk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailynews.lk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Even as the Government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been busy unveiling the India-gifted COVID-19 vaccine in the Maldives, the Opposition PPM-PNC combine too has knocked at New Delhi’s doors to ensure freedom for former President Abdulla Yameen, who is currently serving a jail term for money laundering. His release alone, under the law, can facilitate his contesting the next presidential polls, due in 2023.
The two, near-simultaneous, episodes come ahead of the nation-wide local council elections (LCE) scheduled for 10 April, which have been postponed by a year due to the pandemic. Apart from the immediacy of the election battle, which is the touchstone of the decade-old democracy in the country, the vaccine itself will further unfetter the nation’s mainstay tourism economy in the coming weeks and months.
ECT to be fully owned by SLPA dailynews.lk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailynews.lk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Modi may visit Bangabandhu s birthplace during Bangladesh tour
By
Sumi Khan ( IANS) |
Published on
Thu, Feb 4 2021 0:21 IST |
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Image Source: IANS News
Dhaka, Feb 4 : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his wish to visit Tungipara in Bangladesh the birthplace of the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, popularly known as Bangabandhu, the country s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said.
Speaking to IANS on Wednesday, Momen said Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is likely to visit Bangladesh before Modi s scheduled tour in March.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Modi are scheduled to hold summit-level talks in Dhaka on March 27, taking forward the relations between the two countries keeping the celebratory year in focus.