With the objective of further strengthening digital cooperation between Sri Lanka and India, the Hon. Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, together with a delegation, held a special discussion with the Indian High Commissioner, H.E. Santhosh Jha, at India House.
The meeting was also attended by Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Chief Advisor to the President on Digital Economy and Chairman of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), and Waruna Sri Dhanapala, Secretary to the Ministry of Digital Economy.
Taking into consideration the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit held in New Delhi, both parties emphasized the importance of adopting a techno-legal approach supported by strong governance structures aligned with global standards.
Special attention was given to the development of data centers and AI infrastructure. The High Commissioner further highlighted the strong interest of Indian investors in the proposed AI Zone to be established in Sri Lanka.
Discussions were also held on developing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), drawing inspiration from India’s ‘PM Gati Shakti’ program, particularly for satellite data–driven infrastructure planning, disaster management, and optimizing the activities of the fishing community.
Furthermore, both parties agreed to activate the existing Joint Working Group (JWG) under the current Memorandum of Understanding to build structured cooperation while safeguarding intellectual property rights.
Views were also exchanged on connecting Sri Lanka’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with leading Indian institutions such as NASSCOM and expediting the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) between the two countries.
As part of digitizing the education sector, proposals were made to seek India’s support in establishing Tinkering Labs and AI learning centers across all provinces of the island to promote robotics and coding education. Additionally, the possibility of Sri Lanka engaging with India’s ‘Bharat 6G Mission’ for advanced telecommunications research was explored as another significant initiative.
One of the most important outcomes of the discussion was the decision to establish research, development (R&D), and commercialization partnerships between Sri Lankan universities and leading Indian institutions such as IIT Madras.
This would create opportunities to collaboratively develop Sri Lankan research, strengthen technology transfer mechanisms, and elevate the country’s engineering capabilities to international standards.
Through this sustainable partnership based on quality, security, and innovation, Sri Lanka’s efforts to position itself as a competitive regional digital hub are expected to be further strengthened.
