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India signs six agreements with Sri Lanka During Jaishankar visit

Tags: International News

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who is on an official visit to Sri lanka from 28-30 March 2022 signed six Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with his Sri Lankan counterpart G.L.Peiris, to boost the ties between the two countries.

MoU between India and Sri Lanka 

• India will provide a grant to Sri Lanka for implementing its Sri Lanka Unique Digital Identity (SL UDI) programme. It is based on the Indian Aadhaar  scheme.

• India will help Sri Lanka in establishing 200 computer labs at a school in Galle District of Sri Lanka.

• India will help Sri Lanka in developing a fishing harbour. 

• Agreement was also signed to increase cooperation between the Indian think tank Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Relations and the Sri Lankan think tank Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute.

Maritime Rescue Coordination Center 

• A  Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) will be set up by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) at the Sri Lankan Naval Headquarters in Colombo.

• Under the terms of the MRCC agreement, a maritime rescue sub-centre will come up at Hambantota, where the Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics company, China Merchants Port Holdings, runs the second largest Sri Lankan port after Colombo.

• BEL will set up an MRCC network of seven sub-units in naval bases along the entire Sri Lankan coast: Galle in the south, Argum Bay, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kallawa on the eastern coast, and Mullikulam and Point Pedro in the north. This will, crucially, give India eyes in a part of the Indian Ocean where it has no presence.

• The MRCC network is meant to give Sri Lanka’s present search and rescue operations more capacity and depth, and improve direct communications in case India’s help is required. Last year, the Indian Coast Guard helped out with two ships that went up in flames in Sri Lankan waters.

 Importance of the MRCC agreement for India 

• The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center will establish the presence of Indians in the region where it is not present at the moment.

•  It will increase the intelligence gathering capacity of India.

•  India will be able to keep an eye on the movement of Chinese ships which will use the Hambantota port. 

• India is very concerned about the presence of Chinese companies in Sri Lanka and it fears that Hambantota port will be used by the Chinese to spy on the Indian Naval movement.   

Hybrid Power Plant 

• India will set up hybrid power projects in three islands off Jaffna in Nainativu, Delft or Neduntheevu, and Analaitivu islands.  Last Year the power projects were awarded to Chinese company Sinosoar- Etechwin.  India was very concerned about this project as it was very close to India. To counter China ,India offered to set up the power plant  with a grant rather than a loan. 

• The Chinese government has reacted very sharply to the Sri Lankan decision to cancel the contract given to the Chinese Company.

• It is the third Indian energy project  to be set up in Sri Lanka by an Indian Company. NTPC will set up a solar power plant in Sampur and Adani Group’s renewable energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in the north of Sri Lanka.

India has also announced a grant of $15 million to Sri Lanka for maintenance of Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka 

What Is MoU

It is a formal agreement between two or more parties. The agreement is not legally binding upon the parties.