High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu unfurled the Indian flag and inspected a Guard of Honour presented by a contingent of the Border Security Force. He read out excerpts from the Address to the Nation on the eve of the Republic Day by President of India Ram Nath Kovind.

The High Commissioner congratulated the Government of Sri Lanka on completion of three years in office. Recalling that both India and Sri Lanka celebrate 70 years of independence, he highlighted the special place Sri Lanka has in the hearts of Indian people. He recalled the exceptional high level bilateral visits including the landmark visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2017. He further enumerated some of the many achievements in the last year including the expansion of Indian assisted 1990 Emergency Ambulance Service nationwide, completion of nearly 46000 houses in the North and East and ongoing construction of 14000 houses in the plantation sector, fresh infrastructure assistance of USD 318 million for development of Sri Lanka Railways and USD 45 million for renovation of Kangesanturai Harbor among others. He added that India’s total development assistance to Sri Lanka stood at USD 2.76 billion, with over USD 545 million as outright grants.