India kicks off capacity building for Sri Lankan parliamentarians, officials

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha met the inaugural batch of 24 participants who will be leaving for India later this week, for a Capacity-Building Program at India’s Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) in New Delhi, a statement from the Indian High Commission in Colombo said on Wednesday.
The delegation led by Deputy Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament Dr. Rizvie Salih, consisting of 20 parliamentarians representing various political parties and four officials of the Sri Lankan Parliament, including the Secretary General, was received by the High Commissioner at India House , the statement said.
The programme will span across a week from 26-30 May 2025. It will include components of sharing of best practices across legislative and budgetary processes, system of Parliamentary Committees and other related matters between the two democracies. While in India, participants will also have the opportunity to experience the richness of Indian art and culture, as well as witness the transformation underway in the Indian economy through site visits and suitable interactions, particularly across digital, IT, energy and urban mobility spheres, according to the statement.

This programme is being conducted pursuant to the announcement made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025, offering 700 customised training slots annually for Sri Lankan professionals. These will span across sectors from entrepreneurship to sports, media and cinema. These 700 slots were announced in addition to the 1500 slots available for training of Sri Lankan civil servants over a period of five years, under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Good Governance of India (NCGG) and Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) signed in December 2024, the High Commission added.