Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to visit Kandy, Trincomalee, and Jaffna during Sri Lanka's visit

Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will begin his 4-day Sri Lanka visit starting tomorrow.

During his visit, Mr Shringla will be visiting 4 cities--the national capital Colombo and Kandy, Trincomalee and Jaffna. The key focus during the visit will be strengthening economic partnerships and people-to-people ties. 
 
A release from the Indian ministry of external affairs said, "The visit of the Foreign Secretary will provide an opportunity to review our bilateral ties, progress on ongoing bilateral projects, and ongoing cooperation to tackle Covid related disruptions." 
 
During the visit, Mr Shringla will call on the Sri Lankan President, Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Foreign Minister. This will be Shringla's first visit to Sri Lanka since the assumption of office as the Foreign Secretary of India. Last year, amid the pandemic, India agreed to a $ 400 million currency swap agreement with the Reserve Bank of India, extending the swap facility for Sri Lanka till November 2022. 
 
A currency swap is a transaction in which two parties exchange principal and interest in different currencies.

Companies doing business abroad often use currency swaps to get more favourable loan rates in the local currency than if they borrowed money from a local bank. 
 
The MEA highlighted that "the Foreign Secretary’s visit signifies the importance both countries attach to strengthening their close and cordial relations in all spheres of mutual interest." 

One of the locations where the foreign secretary will visit is Jaffna, which has several Indian assisted and constructed projects. 
 
The visit comes months after Sri Lanka unilaterally cancelled the trilateral pact with India and Japan for the development of the Eastern Terminal container of Colombo port irking New Delhi and Tokyo.