India expanded its development partnership with Sri Lanka this month through a series of training and institutional exchanges, reinforcing New Delhi’s role as a key capacity-building partner in the region. Multiple specialised programmes during March saw over 140 Sri Lankan parliamentarians, civil servants, engineers and local government representatives trained across Indian institutions under initiatives announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A 15-member Sri Lankan parliamentary delegation led by S. M. Marikkar visited New Delhi and Mumbai to study India’s infrastructure governance frameworks, interacting with Om Birla and senior officials while touring institutions such as the National Highways Authority of India and Delhi Metro. In parallel, 30 engineers from the Ceylon Electricity Board underwent solar energy training at the NTPC School of Business, while 25 dairy sector professionals participated in cooperative management training in Pune, including visits to the AMUL ecosystem.

Another 30 Sri Lankan local government representatives completed governance training in Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu, while 40 senior civil servants attended a disaster-management programme at the National Centre for Good Governance. Together, these initiatives underscore India’s growing role in strengthening institutional capacity and technical expertise in Sri Lanka and across the Indian Ocean region.