COLOMBO: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday held talks with Sri Lanka’s top leadership, including President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and jointly commissioned with him the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre built with a USD 6 million grant from India, as New Delhi stepped up bilateral cooperation with its time-tested neighbour.

The minister also called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and reiterated India’s strong support through development and connectivity initiatives.

Jaishankar, who met Wickremesinghe at the President’s House, said that he conveyed the warm greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the way forward for the bilateral cooperation, especially in power, energy, connectivity, port infrastructure, aviation, digital, health, food security, education and tourism sectors.

Reader correspondent