Iranian President to arrive in Sri Lanka to unveil Uma Oya project

Colombo, Apr 23 (PTI) Iranian President Dr Ibrahim Raisi is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka on Wednesday to unveil the multi-purpose Uma Oya hydroelectric power project developed with Tehran's assistance in the south-eastern Uva province of the island nation.
     Raisi will arrive at the Mattala International Airport at 9:30 am (local time) and proceed to unveil the project whose construction started in 2011 under Iranian development assistance of USD 500 million.
     The project will add 120 megawatts of hydroelectric power to Sri Lanka's national grid and supply water to 15,000 acres of paddy fields during the two harvesting seasons while also addressing the drinking water needs of the Uva region.
     The Iranian leader will then proceed to Colombo where he will be officially hosted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the presidential secretariat here.
     After a courtesy call between the two leaders, five bilateral agreements are scheduled to be signed between Iran and Sri Lanka, sources said.
     The two leaders will also issue a joint statement after the meeting.
     Raisi, serving as the president of Iran since 2021, previously held the position of Chief Justice of Iran from 2019 to 2021 and served as the Attorney General of Iran from 2014 to 2016.
     His visit to Sri Lanka comes as the leader concludes on Wednesday his three-day visit to Pakistan which saw the signing of several bilateral agreements, including an agreement to increase bilateral trade to USD 10 billion in the next five years.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)