The Sri Lankan cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal made by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to sign a bilateral agreement with India on the use of the SAARC satellite proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lanka expects the agreement to be signed during the bilateral talks to be held during the visit of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to New Delhi next week. Wickremesinghe will be in the Indian capital from September 14 to 16.

At the 18th SAARC summit held in Kathmandu in November 2014, the assembled Heads of State and Government welcomed, in principle, the offer by India to develop and launch a SAARC satellite. The satellite will be planned, processed and launched by India as a donation to the SAARC countries and it would be located in Eastern Longitude 48.

India expects to enter into bilateral agreements with each country on the Orbit Frequency Coordination of the proposed satellite.

(The New Indian Express)