By Xinhua,
Colombo : Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad concluded his Sri Lankan leg of South Asia tour Tuesday afternoon after witnessing the signing of six agreements and presided over an Iran-funded oil refinery project.
Officials from Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ahamdinejad left Colombo at about 1:30 p.m. local time for India.
Arriving at Sri Lanka late Monday afternoon, the Iranian president held talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and witnessed the signing of six agreements between the two countries on Monday night.
Among the major agreements were the Financial Assistance for the Expansion of the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery and the Uma Oya project, Iran’s Development Assistance to Sri Lanka and the Establishment of Political Consultation Mechanism.
Ahmadinejad participated in the Iranian funded expansion project for the Sapugaskanda refinery near Colombo Tuesday morning which will make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in aviation fuel and bitumen.
The 750-million-U.S. dollar project envisages increasing the daily output capacity of 50,000 barrels to more than 100,000 barrels of refined oil.
However, the Iranian president failed to attend the inauguration ceremony of the 450-million-dollar Uma Oya irrigation project in Wellawaya in central Sri Lanka due to bad weather.
Both projects are funded by Iran to the tune of over 1.9 billion dollars, which was pledged during Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s state visit to Iran in November last year.