National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday (August 30) called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other leaders in Colombo and held wide-ranging political consultations ahead of the presidential election on September 21. Doval, who was in the city to follow up on the ongoing Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) initiative, met Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunwardena, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and the Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. All, barring Gunawardena, are presidential candidate front runners.

During the meeting with Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat, they discussed ongoing economic collaboration between Sri Lanka and India, according to the Presidential Media Division (PMD). Senior Adviser to the President on National Security, Sagala Ratnayake, also attended the meeting.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Gunawardena on Thursday night at the Prime Minister’s Office, Doval said there is immense potential for India and Sri Lanka to further strengthen economic cooperation “which would be mutually beneficial considering the complementarities in bilateral ties.”

“Doval expressed India’s desire to expand cooperation with Sri Lanka further and sought the Prime Minister’s views on priority areas,” news portal Adaderana.lk news portal reported.

The Prime Minister identified the energy sector as a key area for collaboration and thanked India for supporting both large-scale and small-scale alternative energy projects.

Doval also suggested Sri Lanka could generate more power than its domestic requirements and sell the excess power to India, reaping substantial financial benefits, as Bhutan did.

"We held an important discussion and discussed both India and Sri Lanka security. He said India would work closely with any elected government in Sri Lanka,” said Mano Ganesan, the leader of a political party for the Tamils of Indian origin.

Doval also met with National People’s Power (NPP) leader and presidential candidate Dissanayake earlier in the day and with Sajith Premadasa, the SJB presidential candidate and the main opposition leader on Thursday night, Adaderana.lk said.

"I met with Doval in Colombo. We discussed political relations between our two countries and the current political situation leading up to the presidential election,” Dissanayake said in a message.

The primary purpose of Doval's visit was for the signing of the Founding Documents of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC).

(With Inputs From Agencies)