NITI Aayog hosted Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Dr. Harini Nireka Amarasuriya, in New Delhi on Thursday, as the two countries explored avenues for deeper collaboration across multiple sectors, including infrastructure, education, tourism, skill development, and artificial intelligence.
During her visit, Dr. Amarasuriya lauded NITI Aayog’s role as a policy think tank, emphasising its capacity to bridge long-term policy design with on-ground implementation. She expressed keen interest in understanding how the institution collaborates with central ministries and state governments to integrate analysis, evidence-based policymaking, and citizen feedback into governance. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister also noted her country’s ongoing reform initiatives and stressed the importance of institutions that ensure policy continuity beyond political cycles.
The discussions, facilitated by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman K. Bery, provided an overview of India’s transformative initiatives such as PM Gati Shakti for multimodal infrastructure planning, the National Education Policy 2020 for inclusive learning, and potential opportunities for collaboration in tourism and cultural exchanges. Frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence and digital governance, were also highlighted as areas for bilateral engagement.
Presentations covered India–Sri Lanka bilateral relations, trade and investment under the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), integrated infrastructure planning with potential application of India’s multimodal logistics model to Kandy City, and technology-driven education reforms under NEP 2020. The session also discussed enhancing cooperation in heritage, eco, and wellness tourism.
Officials from various divisions of NITI Aayog participated in the meeting, demonstrating India’s commitment to knowledge-sharing and collaborative engagement.
