Official Spokesperson (Shri Syed Akbaruddin): Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen of the media. I welcome you to this event. As usual we will begin with opening remarks by the two Ministers. I request the hon’ble External Affairs Minister of India Shri Salman Khurshid to make his opening remarks. 

External Affairs Minister (Shri Salman Khurshid): Hon’ble Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs of Sri Lanka, friends from the media:

I have just concluded very useful and productive discussions with the Hon. Minister on the entire gamut of our bilateral relations. Prof. Peiris and I have also co-chaired the eighth session of the Joint Commission Meeting.

We have noted that bilateral cooperation during the past three years has seen significant expansion covering all areas of mutual interest. The signing today of two agreements relating to Combating International Terrorism and Illicit Drug Trafficking and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, has further strengthened the framework of our close cooperation.

During the Joint Commission, we comprehensively reviewed bilateral relations, including trade, investment and services, development cooperation, science and technology, power, agriculture, health, people-to-people contacts, connectivity, tourism, culture and education.We have noted with satisfaction that India is Sri Lanka’s largest trade partner and Sri Lanka is India’s largest trade partner in South Asia. India is the largest foreign direct investor in Sri Lanka, and also contributes to the largest number of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans also make up a significant proportion of tourists and pilgrims visiting India every year.

Given the vast untapped potential, we have stressed the need for intensive consultations towards a comprehensive framework for economic cooperation and building of a special economic partnership. We are working on setting up of a Special Economic Zone in Trincomalee and a pharmaceutical and a textiles cluster elsewhere in Sri Lanka.

I have conveyed India’s readiness to support Sri Lanka’s endeavor in capacity building in science and technology, agriculture, ICT, education and health sectors. We agreed to enhance cooperation in the energy sector. We are already discussing finalization of major mutually beneficial projects in power and oil and gas Sectors. We look forward to enhanced cooperation in new and renewable energy, civil nuclear energy and space technology in the future.

India and Sri Lanka enjoy a growing defence relationship built on extensive training and Service-to-Service linkages. We have today reviewed our mutual strategic interests, in view of the commonality of concerns, including with respect to the safety and security of sea lanes of communication. We agreed to promote dialogue on security and defence issues of relevance in bilateral as well as in regional context.We noted that successful exposition of the sacred Kapilavastu relics and the celebration of 150 years of Guru Rabindranath Tagore’s anniversary in Sri Lanka have both significantly enriched our bilateral cultural relations.

The Joint Commission Meeting agreed on the need to extend humane treatment and abjure violence against fishermen of our two countries. We welcomed the decisions of two meetings of Joint Working Group on Fishing held in 2011 and 2012, and also the outcomes of meetings between representatives of fishermen's associations, and the work towards concluding an MoU on Development and Cooperation in the Field of Fisheries.The need for both sides to adhere to Practical Arrangements on Fishing of 2008, which had helped to decrease incidents on the International Maritime Boundary Line, has been duly noted. Both sides have placed great emphasis on the safety of fishermen and the need to continue to ensure that violence is not resorted to under any circumstances.

I have conveyed India’s commitment to the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts of Internally Displaced Persons (idPs) in Sri Lanka. We have made good progress in implementing comprehensive bilateral agenda set out by our Prime Minister and the President of Sri Lanka in June 2010. Projects of bilateral development assistance have progressed well, including construction of 50,000 houses for idPs, with the fullest cooperation of the Government of Sri Lanka. Our livelihood generation and reconstruction efforts in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka have had a positive impact on the ground.

In my separate discussions with the Foreign Minister, I have referred to the need for continued dialogue between the Government of Sri Lanka and the representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamil community, with a view towards ensuring a future for the Tamil community that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect, all of which are respected by Sri Lanka. We hope that there will be early progress on a meaningful devolution building upon the 13th Amendment and leading to national reconciliation.

I am confident that given our geographical proximity and millennial links, a much closer and more comprehensive relationship beckons us. The visit of Minister Peiris and our discussions today have opened avenues for taking full and further advantage of opportunities that are open to us. 

Thank you very much.

Official Spokesperson: I request the External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka to make his opening remarks.

Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs (Prof. G.L. Peiris): Your Excellency Salman Khurshid, Minister of External Affairs of India, and friends from the media:

As my distinguished colleague told you, we had some very productive and constructive discussions. We concluded the Eighth Joint Commission between India and Sri Lanka. It is taking place at a particularly propitious moment marking the end of one era in Sri Lanka and the commencement of a very exciting but challenging period in our country’s history. We leave behind us the pain and the conflict of a 30-year conflict. And President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government are today engaged in the endeavour to revive the country’s economy and move the island forward in a variety of sectors. 

What strikes me about the deliberations that we have just concluded is the depth and the range of the relationship between our two countries. The agreed minutes demonstrate beyond any shadow of doubt that the relationship touches every sector of public policy. The main areas were identified by His Excellency Salman Khurshid. I would be content to say that this is an appropriate moment to stand back to take stock of the situation and to explore practical ways and means of elevating the already robust relationship to a new and a higher plane. And I would say that that is exactly what we have been able to accomplish in these discussions.

We have identified for ourselves where more intense collaboration would yield results which are beneficial to both countries at this moment. And, there are many things that strike me as significant. One of these is the fact that this is no longer a one-way relationship. Take for example the very significant contribution that the private sector of Sri Lanka is making to the development of the economy of India. We are partners and participants in that process. And I would say that the quality of this relationship makes one thing very clear. Whatever problems, issues may arise from time to time, and that is inevitable in any bilateral relationship, the tremendous reservoir of goodwill and understanding that exists between our two countries makes it possible for us through dialogue and discussion to arrive at acceptable and pragmatic solutions to the challenges that we face.

This has no doubt facilitated certain other elements of the relationship one of which is that it is no longer confined to government-to-government relations. One of the strongest components of this relationship I would say is the vigorous people-to-people relations. This was nowhere demonstrated more clearly than by the enthusiasm with which, as His Excellency the Minister of External Affairs of India indicated, the people of Sri Lanka, no fewer than three million people in our country, had the opportunity of venerating the sacred Kapilavastu relics. In fact, Excellency, as you would recall, we had to make a special request to the Prime Minister of India through your High Commissioner His Excellency Ashok Kantha to have the period extended by one week, which the Government of India graciously acceded to. Apart from that, I think about 200,000 pilgrims from Sri Lanka visit Bodh Gaya, Sanchi, Saranath. So, people-to-people contact is definitely a strong, durable mainstay of our relationship. That is one of the bonds that unite us. 

So, there is every reason for optimism and confidence with regard to the future of this relationship. What we have concluded today is a significant milestone in that relationship. It is a constantly continuing and evolving relationship. And I do not have a shadow of doubt that it will go from strength to strength in the months and years to come.

I thank you very much.

Official Spokesperson: The two External Affairs Ministers have agreed to take a few questions.

Question: My question is to both the Ministers, first to Mr. Peiris. What is the Sri Lankan Government’s current stand on the 13th Amendment and devolution of powers given that certain Ministers of the Sri Lankan Government have made remarks suggesting that the 13th Amendment should be repealed? 

My question to Mr. Khurshid is, is India satisfied with the pace and progress of devolution of powers in Sri Lanka?

Sri Lankan Minister of External Affairs: The 13th Amendment is an integral part of the country’s Constitution. In recent times we have had the expression of different views with regard to the future of the 13th Amendment by people in the Government. We have had a variety of opinions, not just one opinion. One view has been that it should be done away with. At the other end of the spectrum, there are other members of the Government who have suggested that far from repealing the 13th Amendment, we should strengthen it. That point of view has also been expressed. And there is a middle view that the 13th Amendment is defective in the sense that it has shortcomings, which is not surprising, and that those deficiencies need to be addressed and the content of the 13th Amendment improved. So, that has been a third school of thought. 

Now this is to be expected because you are aware that the Government of Sri Lanka is a coalition government. It consists of different strands of thought, different perceptions, insights, all of which is very healthy in a vibrant democracy. So, there is encouragement for the expression of different points of view. And that is what you have been reading about in the media in recent weeks. So, it is for the Government of Sri Lanka to take into account all these expressions of opinion and to arrive at decisions with regard to future course of action. But what you have been reading about are not decisions, but simply expressions of opinion by various political parties, various segments of the Government. I would regard that as something promising and encouraging - the free expression of different points of view with regard to a matter that is of fundamental importance to public policy in Sri Lanka.

External Affairs Minister: Thank you for your question. Frankly, my reply will just flow from His Excellency the Foreign Minister’s explanation about the context in which we must see this. Sri Lanka has been through an extremely painful experience. And to reconstruct and rehabilitate all your citizens after such a painful experience is obviously a very challenging task. We have discussed the contours of the efforts that are being made. Many of those efforts have borne fruit, are productive. Many more of course are in the pipeline, in the process. And a lot more needs to be done. I think at best we can as friends provide our understanding and our perception of how things are going and be willing to help in every which way.

I do believe that ultimately it is the elected government that decides what it can manage at what speed and in what direction. I think the broad contours of what we discussed, there is no reason for us to express any dissatisfaction. Obviously it is an enormous challenge, it is a difficult challenge. It has to be met consistently step-by-step and steadily. I would imagine that we would want to see reconciliation and reconstruction continue unabated. And that is the impression and those are the details that have been conveyed to us. And we wish Sri Lanka well. Our best wishes are with them for completion of what is essentially a very very difficult task.

Question: This is for the visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister. Sir, could you explain the rationale behind increasing duty on Indian automobile exports, especially as sections of Indian industry feel that this is a political decision which has been taken to increase imports from our immediate northern neighbor?

Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister: No, no, I can tell you categorically that that is not the case. It is not a political decision nor is it discriminatory in any sense whatsoever. It is based on a purely objective criterion – engine capacity. Engine capacity is not a political criterion. It is something objective and ascertainable. So, there has been some misunderstanding on this matter. But that assumption on which the question is based, I can assure you, is not correct.

India is a very strong trading partner of Sri Lanka. Look at the volumes of trade today which, as I said, have grown seven-folds since the FTA was entered into. Whether it is investment or trade or tourism, it is a very strong relationship which we are seeking to nurture and develop. So, it is certainly not the intention of the Government of Sri Lanka to do something to inhibit. On the contrary, the intention is very much to expand and to strengthen. So, that is not correct. It is a criterion based on engine capacity applicable across the board, no matter what the source or the origin of the vehicle. It is in no sense a discriminatory decision intended to have a political impact.

Question: Your Excellency, my question is to G.L. Peiris. Why Indian fishermen are being tortured quite often by the Sri Lankan forces? What steps are you taking?

Sri Lankan External Affairs Minister: On this matter, very clear instructions have been given by the Government of Sri Lanka to the Sri Lankan Navy – no violence - and those instructions are being scrupulously observed. It is a human problem which requires a response founded upon humanitarian values which both Governments subscribe to without reservation.

But I must also point out that the numbers of fishing boats coming into these waters are very large from South India. And that has an impact on the livelihoods of the Tamil fishermen living in the North who are trying to rebuild their lives after, as his Excellency pointed out, a very painful period during which their livelihoods were totally destroyed, and they are trying to pick up the pieces and move forward. So, in that situation I think it is important to take some measures in a suitable way to address this problem. We have been talking to the Government of India about it and Government of India has been forthcoming, responsive.

I think the method that we have chosen to begin these discussions at the level of the fishermen societies, their voluntary societies, their communities, as a starting point, a point of departure, that I think is a very practical way of addressing that problem. It is something that has a great deal to commend it. And starting from that point onwards we are confident that we have to move these discussions forward and arrive at solutions which are mutually satisfying.

Official Spokesperson: Thank you very much. With that we come to the end of this interaction.(Concluded)

For the video of this media interaction, please visit:

Visit of Minister of External Affairs, Sri Lanka Prof. G. L. Peiris-Joint Media Interaction- Part 1
Visit of Minister of External Affairs, Sri Lanka Prof. G. L. Peiris-Joint Media Interaction- Part 2