Sri Lanka and Russia will likely discuss the formation of an agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) on the Asian island at the next session of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, set to be held in the second half of this year, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia M. D. Lamawansa told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2021) Sri Lanka and Russia will likely discuss the formation of an agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) on the Asian island at the next session of the bilateral intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, set to be held in the second half of this year, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia M. D. Lamawansa told Sputnik.
According to the ambassador, Moscow and Colombo had to postpone the meeting of the bilateral commission on trade and economic cooperation from last year due to the COVID-19 and now aim to convene it in the third or fourth quarter of 2021.
"No solid agreement [on NPP] has been reached yet, can't even talk about construction without having a solid agreement. That is going to be discussed at the next session of the intergovernmental commission," Lamawansa said.
So far, no progress has been made in the discussions on Russia's participation in the potential construction of an NPP on the island as Colombo was busy dealing with the consequences of the COVID-19, the ambassador noted.
Last year, Russian Ambassador to Colombo Yury Materiy told Sputnik that Moscow could build an NPP in Sri Lanka someday, considering the growing energy demand on the island nation. According to him, such cooperation could happen as a result of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom and the relevant Sri Lankan bodies holding in 2017 their first consultations on the Moscow-initiated intergovernmental agreement on cooperating on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
