On the face of it, the visit of the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to New Delhi last month was rather successful. India and Sri Lanka signed a range of agreements including loans for major infrastructure projects and sharing of electricity. India has extended a line of credit of $200 million to assist in the setting up of the NTPC-CEB joint venture 500 Mw thermal power plant at Trincolamalee. The two nations also decided to set up an annual defence dialogue and increase high-level military exchanges. India has agreed to construct a rail link between Talaimannar and Madhu in the Northern Province.

<p><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'><B>Harsh V Pant:</B> The importance of being Sri Lanka</td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>China

<b>Harsh V Pant:</b> The importance of being Sri Lanka

Chinas ties with Sri Lanka aim at expanding its profile in the Indian Ocean, where the great game of this century will be played

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