Jaishankar holds talks with Lankan counterpart on economic recovery, fishermen's issues

Colombo [Sri Lanka], March 28 (ANI): External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday held productive talks with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris and discussed a number of issues including the economic recovery of the island nation and fishermen's issues.
"Concluded productive talks with Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris of Sri Lanka. Discussed economic recovery, our development partnership, mutual security, fishermen's issues and international coordination. Also witnessed the signing of many notable agreements," Jaishankar tweeted.
Jaishankar met a delegation from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) led by R. Sampanthan, Member of Parliament today during his visit to Sri Lanka.
The TNA delegation briefed EAM on the latest developments, focusing on the March 25 meeting between the Government and the TNA.
"They conveyed that the issues of release of political prisoners, land utilization, missing persons, 13th Amendment implementation and diaspora investment were discussed in the meeting," the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a press statement.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan Government's engagement with TNA also came up during EAM's call on Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. EAM got a more detailed understanding on this subject from Foreign Minister Peiris later in the evening.
On his part, EAM welcomed in all these interactions the positive developments regarding the issues on the Government-TNA agenda. He emphasized that the Government of India was consistently supportive of the realization of the aspirations of the Tamils of Sri Lanka for equality, justice, peace and dignity within the framework of a united Sri Lanka.
The contribution of India's development partnership to economic recovery in the North and East was also recognized in all the meetings. EAM expressed particular satisfaction at the virtual inauguration of the Jaffna Cultural Centre that he did along with Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
EAM separately met Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Douglas Devananda. They discussed issues pertaining to fishermen and exchanged views on devolution. (ANI)