New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was on an official two-day visit to Sri Lanka on 23 -24 February, at the invitation of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
This was the first visit by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to Sri Lanka since the formation of the new governments in both countries, clearly reflecting the warmth and goodwill between the governments and peoples of the two countries.
Now the question that comes up here is what this visit by Pak Prime Minister Imran Khan means for India?
"Pakistan is in dire need of developing a relationship with friendly countries and in that regard, especially with neighbours, Pakistan has got a strained relationship with India, not even a satisfactory relationship with Bangladesh. In Nepal, Pakistan’s presence is there but the difficulty is that because of the uncertainty and volatility of the Nepali political situation, Pakistan is helpless", former ambassador Jitendra Tripathi told ETV Bharat.
"With this remains Afghanistan, Iran, Maldives and Sri Lanka. The latest military operation of the Irani group in Western Pakistan to got some of their hostages free has taken a toll and the relationship is not very good.
Though America had been recognizing that Pakistan has taken control over Afghanistan, but time and again it is a flip-flop kind of relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan cannot be sure", he added.
During the visit, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held a delegation-level meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Earlier on Tuesday, khan called on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka.
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Had a productive discussion with #Pakistani PM @ImranKhanPTI this morning.
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) February 24, 2021 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
The discussions were mainly focused on common interests such as Trade, Tourism & adoption of technology in Agriculture which both countries could positively leverage on#SriLanka #Pakistan #lka pic.twitter.com/j6iUMRcf4f
">Had a productive discussion with #Pakistani PM @ImranKhanPTI this morning.
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) February 24, 2021
The discussions were mainly focused on common interests such as Trade, Tourism & adoption of technology in Agriculture which both countries could positively leverage on#SriLanka #Pakistan #lka pic.twitter.com/j6iUMRcf4fHad a productive discussion with #Pakistani PM @ImranKhanPTI this morning.
— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) February 24, 2021
The discussions were mainly focused on common interests such as Trade, Tourism & adoption of technology in Agriculture which both countries could positively leverage on#SriLanka #Pakistan #lka pic.twitter.com/j6iUMRcf4f
Read: 'Pak offers $15M credit line to Sri Lanka for defence cooperation'
Both sides comprehensively reviewed the multifaceted bilateral relationship in diverse fields of cooperation.
In the context of regional connectivity, Prime Minister Khan highlighted the opportunities presented by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of BRI, for regional economic growth and prosperity.
Tripathi further points out that Pakistan is in need and most certainly, the country is trying to have China on board because economically China has good relation with Sri Lanka.
"That way Pak PM Imran Khan is trying to develop a relationship with Sri Lanka but Sri Lankan leadership don’t want to antagonize India or be friendly with Pakistan at the cost of the Indian relationship". He added.
"For Sri Lanka relationship with India what matters most. Therefore. India should not have any problem with Pakistan PM Imran Khan visit to Sri Lanka because it is just a feeble attempt of Pak to have Sri Lanka on its side. But I don’t think Imran Khan is going to gain anything substantial from Sri Lanka", Ambassador Tripathi further explains.
Pointing out Sri Lanka’s scraping of the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) port deal with India, Tripathi said, “After scraping the deal with India on ECT port, India was given the chance to invest on Western Container terminal, during that time, many Sri Lankan trade unions, maybe on the behest of China, agitated against the move, demanding that no Sri Lankan projects should go in the hands of other foreign countries.
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Probably by that, they wanted Japan and India to be excluded but then that also gave a clear cut message that when the Sri Lankan public say that they want to boycott foreign countries, it means China included. In that way, it would not be very easy for China to make new inroads there", the expert points out.
"The Sri Lankan govt might accept but not to the extend Pakistan wants it to be. Secondly, if the CPEC proposal is to be extended, China should be an acute partner and not only Sri Lanka and Pakistan. China needs to be taken into account as a major shareholder in CPEC", Tripathi underlines.
The visit by Pakistan Prime Minister afforded a timely opportunity to both sides to further build upon their close and regular consultations, particularly in the areas identified during the recently held Foreign Secretary-level Bilateral Political Consultations, Joint Economic Commission session, and the Commerce Secretaries-level Talks.
Both sides reached a broad consensus on ways and means to further strengthen cooperation comprehensively and agreed to hold frequent meetings; promote high-level and delegation-level exchanges, and enhance the process of consultations, cooperation and coordination between their respective institutions, a statement from Sri Lanka's foreign affairs ministry read.
Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated Pakistan’s support for the socio-economic development of Sri Lanka in line with the vision of a “peaceful neighbourhood”.
The two sides reviewed the extensive engagement that exists between the two countries in promoting cultural linkages, human resource development, and capacity building in diverse areas as well as educational and technical cooperation.
Read: India permits Imran Khan's aircraft to use its airspace for travel to Sri Lanka
To explore new avenues for enhancing bilateral trade and investment between the two countries, a high-level Pakistan-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Conference was held on Wednesday. The Conference provided an opportunity for effective and meaningful engagement between the business communities of the two countries.
At the conference, the two sides stressed the importance of realizing the goal of achieving a US$ 1 billion bilateral trade target and also agreed to work towards broadening and deepening of Pakistan Sri Lank Free Trade Agreement.
Pertinently, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a new $50 million defence credit line facility. The two sides stressed the need for a stronger partnership for supporting and coordinating with each other in dealing with matters related to security, terrorism, organized crime and drug and narcotics trafficking as well as intelligence-sharing.
While reiterating the commitment of the new government to further strengthen the bilateral relations, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka thanked the government, and the people of Pakistan for the constant support extended by Pakistan to safeguard the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan also extended an invitation to the President and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to visit Pakistan at their earliest convenience.
Read: 'Pak PM's Sri Lanka visit aims at gaining brownie points to be used against India'
