Sixteen-member parliamentary delegation completes five-day visit to India

A 16-member delegation from Sri Lanka’s parliament led by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene and including his spouse and son who is his public relations officer last week completed a five day visit to India from Dec. 16 -20.

The delegation comprised one minister (Mr. Keheliya Rambukwella) nine government and opposition MPs and four member of the parliamentary staff including Secretary General Kushlani Rohanadeera and the speaker’s son.

They met with India’s Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankar and were received by Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla and also held a Bilateral Parliamentary Dialogue and Exchange, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.

They also met with India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and were hosted to a banquet lunch by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

The delegation comprised the Speaker, his wife, Deputy Speaker Ajith Rajapakse, Deputy Chairman of Committees Angajan Ramanathan, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella,, Niroshan Perera, M. Muzammil,. Waruna Priyantha Liyanage, M. Udayakumar, Marudapandi Rameshwaran, Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Jagath Samarawickrama, Mrs. Kushani Rohanadeera, Secretary- General of Parliament,

Chaminda Kularatne, Chief of Staff and Deputy Secretary –General of Parliament

Jayalath Perera, Asst. Director Administration (Table Office) and . Chameera Yapa Abeywardana, PRO to Speaker.

The Indian High Commission said the visiting parliamentarians saw the proceedings in both Houses of the Indian Parliament as also engaged in productive discussions with several MPs, cutting across party lines, during the visit.

The delegation thanked Government of India for the unprecedented assistance of USD 4 billion extended to the people of Sri Lanka in 2022. They also sought deeper and closer collaboration with India in several spheres, including trade and tourism.

Underlining civilizational linkages between the two countries, Indian leadership reiterated that they will continue to assist Sri Lanka in diverse areas such as connectivity, renewable energy and investments, among others. Both sides also called for more frequent exchanges between the Parliaments in the future.