The three day visit by Union Food and Agriculture Minister Mr.Sharad Pawar to Sri Lanka on the invitation of President of Sri Lanka last week had taken place as cooperation between the two countries in the filed of agriculture is poised to achieve greater heights.
The day after his arrival Mr.Pawar held extensive talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mr.Maithripala Sirisena. It turned out to be quite a fruitful one as both the sides identified many a common grounds for enhanced cooperation in agricultural sector.
During the two hour long discussion both the sides agreed to work together in areas like development of human resources, capacity building, training, and exchange of germ plasma. It was agreed that India would help Sri Lanka in capacity building by enhancing the scope of training programmes, scholarships, research projects and exchange of visits of farmers. Both the sides agreed that there would be collaborative R&D programme in the field of bio-technology, hybrid seed development, post harvest processing, livestock improvement, and agricultural policy research. It is understood that among the other areas came under discussion were the possibility of joint ventures in seed development, manufacturing of agricultural machinery and ago- processing.
In his opening remarks before the beginning of the talks, Mr.Sharad Pawar reiterated New Delhi’s commitment support its southern neighbour in its endeavour to develop the agrarian sector.
‘I am here with clear cut direction from Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh that as far as important suggestions made by the Sri Lankan side is concerned it is the responsibility of me and my Government to take effective steps to implement and try to work very aggressively in the area of agriculture which is very important for both the countries’, India’s Agriculture Minister said.
The deliberations, held at Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute in Colombo was attended by among others Sri Lanka’s Junior Minister for Agriculture Mr.Hemakumara Nayanakkara, India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Mr.Alok Prasad. The members of the Indian delegation were Mr.Vimlendra Sharan, Dr.S.Ayyappan, DDG, Department of Agriculture Research and Education, Mr.B.B.Patnaik, CMD, National Seeds Corporation, Dr.Sameer Barde Director-CIFTI ,Mr.Sunjay Sudhir, Counselor (Eco) and Mr.Hardeep Singh of Confederation of Indian Industry.
Mr.Sharad Pawar called on President Mr.Mahinda Rajapakse at ‘Temple Trees’, the official residence of the Sri Lankan head of state. Both the leaders were understood to have discussed matters of mutual interest and bilateral concern. The talks were joined by Mr.Pawar’s Sri Lankan counterpart Mr.Maitripala Sirisena, High Commissioner Mr.Alok Prasad, and Deputy High Commissioner Mr.A.Manickam.
Mr.Pawar exchanged views on bilateral and regional matters during a breakfast meeting with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Mr.Rohitha Bogollagma.
Mr.Pawar also met with Mr.Douglas Devananda a moderate Tamil leader and a Minister in Rajapakse Government, Prof.Tissa Vitharana Minister and the Chairman of All Party Representative Conference (APRC) on devolution op powers and Mr.V.Ananadasangaree, a highly respected moderate Tamil leader.
The chief of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Mr.Jayantha Dharmadasa also called on Mr.Sharad pawar, who happens to be the President of Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), the Mr.Pawar.
