It was also noted that the Second Round of negotiations for the ETCA is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on September 29-30, 2016. The leaders also discussed several other issues related to bilateral trade and investment.

This was stated by Indian Commerce and Industry Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman following her bilateral trade and investment talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe over an official dinner hosted in her honour on Tuesday night

The deliberations were extremely cordial and marked by a spirit of mutual respect and understating that characterizes the strong and vibrant relations between the two countries, Indian Embassy in Colombo announced by issuing a press release

The Indian Commerce Minister’s two day visit has emphasised the importance of Sri Lanka as an important trading and investment partner for India and would help in further deepening the existing bilateral relations.

During the visit, a meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Business Forum was held which was attended by the Commerce and Industry Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama,

Many issues relating to trade, services and investment were highlighted and it was agreed that their resolution be explored. The Commerce and Industry Minister also suggested that the meeting of the reconstituted India-Sri Lanka CEO Forum be held at the earliest.

The Indian Commerce and Industry Minister also had a bilateral meeting with a high level Sri Lankan delegation led by Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade of Sri Lanka.