Context-

• India and Sri Lanka held the 12th round of talks on Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) in Colombo, Sri Lanka from October 30 to November 1.
• The three-day meeting was held in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, from October 30 to November 1.

Background -

• In fact, 11 rounds of bilateral talks took place between the two countries from 2016 to 2018. After this the talks were stopped.
• Now India and Sri Lanka have again started negotiations on the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA).

Main point -

• The Sri Lankan delegation was led by chief negotiator K. J. Weerasinghe and the Indian delegation was led by Ananth Swarup, Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce to the government and chief negotiator.
• This dialogue is expected to open new opportunities for trade and economic cooperation for both the countries.
• In this round of talks, both sides took stock of the progress made till the 11th round and discussed issues related to trade in goods, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade in services, customs procedures and trade facilitation, rules of origin, trade measures. Discussed various topics including economic and technology cooperation and dispute settlement.
• The two sides also identified areas of coordination as well as areas where they need to find constructive solutions.
• Both sides reviewed progress on implementation and decided to leave 9 issues as resolved.

 India-Srilanka Relation:

• Relations between India and Sri Lanka go back more than 2,500 years.
• The two countries have a heritage of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic mutual ties.
• Apart from this, trade and investment have increased between the two countries and cooperation is done in the areas of development, education, culture and defence.
• Both are important Indian Ocean countries and their relations are seen in the broader regional and Indian Ocean context.
• Commercial Relations – Sri Lanka has long been a leading destination for direct investment from India.
• Sri Lanka is the second largest trading partner among SAARC countries. India is also Sri Lanka's largest global trading partner.
•  Cultural Relations - The Agreement on Cultural Cooperation was signed by the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka in New Delhi on November 29, 1977. This agreement remains the basis of periodic cultural exchange between the two countries.
• The Indian Cultural Center in Colombo plays an active role in creating awareness of Indian culture.

 Challenges in India-Sri Lanka relations:

• Vulnerable sea border,
• Smuggling of goods, including narcotics and illegal immigrants,
• Ethnic conflict between Tamil minorities and others in Sri Lanka,
• China's growing economic and strategic influence on Sri Lanka,
• The issue of security of the Indian region of the Indian Ocean from foreign powers etc.

 The Way Forward

• First of all, both the countries should together make meaningful efforts towards the welfare and rights of the Tamil community.
• Apart from this, India and Sri Lanka need to make efforts towards keeping their bilateral relations free from the interference of external powers.
• There is a need to make economic cooperation more effective to reduce trade imbalance.
• Along with this, work should be done in the direction of cultural exchange and tourism.

 Sri Lanka -

• Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (Legislative)
• Colombo (Executive and Judicial)
• President: Ranil Vikram Singh
• Prime Minister:Dinesh Gunawardena