Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu said India's development efforts in Sri Lanka was aimed at touching the lives of people, and making a genuine difference to their lives.

Addressing the 10th Annual General Meeting of the Indo-Lanka Chamber of Commerce & Industry at the Taj Samudra in Colombo, the High Commissioner said the key milestones in the relationship between India and Sri Lanka last year were the launch of direct the flights between Colombo and Varanasi; the islandwide launch of the Emergency Ambulance Service; and the handing over of the first lot of the 14000 houses for plantation workers in the upcountry. 

High Commissioner pointed out that the two Governments alone cannot create the magic of development and that the industry of the two countries has an important role to play in crafting the developmental trajectory.

High Commissioner quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s words, from his speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Hyderabad in last November, wherein he mentioned about the traits of entrepreneurs: "power to think differently and ahead of the time for the betterment of mankind is what sets entrepreneurs apart.” He urged the industry leaders to look far and ahead..

President of the Indo- Lanka Chamber Vish Govindswamy in his speech spoke about that active engagement between the industries of the two countries marked by an increase in interaction between the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries and visits of business delegation. He enumerated the efforts made by the Indo-Lanka Chamber in helping the business grow between the two countries.