India to set up two new consulates in Sri Lanka

Seeking to give a further boost to bilateral friendly ties, India will set up two new consulates in Sri Lanka's Jaffna and Hambantota cities.The two sides had agreed on this during president Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to India in June. "In order to implement andformalise this understanding, an Exchange of Notes took placetoday between foreign secretary CR Jayasinghe and (Indian)high commissioner Ashok K Kantha," an official statement said.It is expected that the two Consulates General of India in Jaffna and Hambantota will be set up in the near future, it said.Following talks between Rajapaksa and prime minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi, the two countries had agreed onestablishing the consulates of India in Jaffna and Hambantota,a coastal city in the south of Sri Lanka.Singh had also welcomed Sri Lanka's interest in establishing a further post in India, in addition to the existing ones in Chennai and Mumbai functioning under the high commission of Colombo in New Delhi, the statement noted."It has accordingly been agreed that the consular district of the proposed Consulate General of India in Jaffna would cover the five districts of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, namely, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Mannar."The consular district of the proposed consulate general of India in Hambantota would cover the districts of Galle, Matara, Hambantota and Moneragala," it said, adding Moneragala will be transferred from the consular district of the existing assistant high commission of India in Kandy.It has also been agreed that any expansion of the consular districts of the proposed Consulates General could be considered subsequently through mutual consent, the statement said.