INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A bilateral arrangement relating to increasing the limit of the High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) executed in Sri Lanka with
the support of the Indian federal government was signed today (Jan 20), the Presidents Media Division (PMD) says.The Secretary to the
Ministry of Finance, Mahinda Siriwardana, signed the contract on behalf of Sri Lanka while the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal
Baglay signed on behalf of India.The contract related to the neighborhood development project in Sri Lanka, first signed in May 2005,
doubled the private job limit from Rs
600 million.Through this arrangement, the total HICDP funds will be doubled from Rs
10 billion.This contract guides lots of community development tasks in Sri Lanka with the assistance of the Indian federal government, the
PMD stated further.The documents were signed after Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr
Jaishankar gotten in touch with President Ranil Wickremesinghe previously today.During the conference, it was concurred upon to execute a
joint program between Sri Lanka and India.Prior to the official conference, President Wickremesinghe hosted the checking out Indian EAM for
breakfast and tea at his main house at Paget Road, Colombo.In addition, during the official conference held in between President
Jaishankar, numerous political, financial and social problems along with financial investment matters in between the two countries were
talked about at length.During this conversation, special attention was paid to the debt-restructuring program in Sri Lanka which had
actually received a favorable reaction from the Indian government.The Indian External Affairs Minister recalled that in 1991, throughout the
tenure of previous Indian Prime Minister P.V
Narasimha Rao, India had to face an economic crisis comparable to what Sri Lanka is currently dealing with
He included that the Indian Government got rid of the crisis by vowing the governments gold reserves.Therefore, Dr Jaishankar said that
India has a good understanding of the scenario Sri Lanka is currently facing and said that the Indian government will provide all possible
support to solve the present financial issues dealt with by Sri Lanka.
