Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Vijitha Herath, Sri Lanka’s Minister of International Affairs, International Employment and Tourism.
| Picture Credit score: ANI
Redeveloping the Second World Conflict-era oil tank farms in Sri Lanka’s jap Trincomalee district is the “everlasting resolution” to the power disaster, International Minister Vijitha Herath mentioned, including that the federal government was taking steps to expedite the undertaking backed by India and the United Arab Emirates.
“Momentary options are usually not sustainable, we’d like a long-term technique to cope with oil storage and distribution given the worldwide power state of affairs,” Mr. Herath informed The Hindu on Saturday (March 21, 2026), reiterating his latest Parliament handle.
“That’s the reason on the very starting, our authorities signed the MoU with India and the UAE.,” he mentioned, referring to the Memorandum of Settlement signed by the three events in April 2025, throughout Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to the island nation, to develop Trincomalee as an power hub.
The transfer drew consideration as one of many first main MoUs on strategic tasks, signed by the Anura Kumara Dissanayake administration after its huge win within the November 2025 basic elections. The transfer is broadly perceived as a giant shift, because the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the primary constituent of the ruling Nationwide Individuals’s Energy, had lengthy opposed Indian involvement within the undertaking.
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After the signing of the MoU practically a 12 months in the past, the three events have met as soon as, and Sri Lanka has put ahead an idea observe for the opposite two companions to reply to, sources accustomed to the discussions mentioned. “There are some technical facets being addressed by the Vitality Ministry. As soon as that’s accomplished, a young course of shall be initiated to herald traders,” Mr. Herath mentioned, including that the federal government was working to “expedite the method”.
For over 4 many years now, because the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, New Delhi has been negotiating the redevelopment of the strategically situated oil tank farms with varied governments in Colombo. Nevertheless, the undertaking has seen little progress past preliminary agreements. Nevertheless, the present power disaster, which threatens to severely disrupt international provide chains and economies, has put the once-contested undertaking again within the highlight.
Though Sri Lanka doesn’t import gasoline by way of the Strait of Hormuz — its sources are India, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore — the closure of the strait impacted international provide, Minister Herath informed Parliament final week. “When a state of affairs like this erupts…the complete nation should face the ramifications. We face that very same state of affairs at this time,” he mentioned, whereas talking on Sri Lanka’s response to the disaster in West Asia, together with Colombo’s refusal to entertain requests from each america — floor entry to its warfare planes — and Iran, which sought port requires its vessels.
Amid escalation within the warfare in West Asia, following america and Israel’s assault on Iran, and its retaliation, Sri Lanka switched to a digital QR code-based system to ration gasoline gross sales final week, in what authorities referred to as a “precautionary measure”.
Revealed – March 21, 2026 08:55 pm IST