Sri Lankan PM to visit Beijing to sign MoUs, attend OBOR Summit

Colombo, May 11 (IANS) Even as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a visit to Sri Lanka, Colombo is hoping to sign MoUs with China on power and energy cooperation when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visits Beijing next week, a media report said.

The Sri Lankan Cabinet on Wednesday endorsed the MoUs on cooperation in the fields of urban development, transportation, power and energy and road development, reported Daily Mirror.

Wickremesinghe will leave for China soon after Vesak to attend the 'One Belt, One Road' summit to be conducted in Beijing.

He is expected to meet Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the summit.

The Cabinet also discussed a modified version of the agreement to be signed with China Merchants Ports Holding Company Ltd., to develop the Hambantota Port as a joint venture. President Maithripala Sirisena was entrusted with the responsibility of making the final decision on this agreement, the daily said.

The OBOR summit will be held from May 14- 15.

It is being hosted by Xi Jinping in Beijing and will see 20 leaders and over 100 minister-level officials in attendance. The summit is being supported by most of China's peripheral countries, notably Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

Beijing has invested heavily in Sri Lanka's infrastructure in recent years, especially airports, roads, railways and ports.

Modi, who arrived here earlier in the day on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, will be the chief guest at the UN-recognised 14th International Vesak Day meant to mark the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Lord Buddha.

It is Modi's second trip to Sri Lanka as Prime Minister after March 2015.