Indian officials called for the swift implementation of a proposed regional energy hub in Sri Lanka at the start of bilateral talks in Colombo on Sunday.

The planned oil hub in the northeastern port of Trincomalee featured in a meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, India’s visiting Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters.

The project, which also involves the United Arab Emirates, has been under discussion since 2023, he added.

“There is no further time to lose in making progress on strategic projects such as these,” said Misri, who is visiting the Sri Lankan capital along with India’s Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan.

Sri Lanka, India and the UAE signed an agreement a year ago, following two years of talks, to set up a multi-product oil pipeline connecting the two South Asian neighbours and to establish the Trincomalee oil storage complex.

Misri said that in Sunday’s talks, both sides agreed on the need to get the project off the ground quickly.

Had the energy hub been completed, it could have been useful “especially at a time like this”, he added.

Sri Lanka, which imports all its oil requirements as well as coal needed for power generation, has raised fuel and electricity prices since the Middle East war began in late February, when the United States and Israel began bombing Iran.

The conflict has disrupted energy supplies globally and sent prices soaring.

Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee is already home to a 99-tank oil storage farm from the British colonial era, but only 14 containers are in use under a previous agreement with an Indian oil firm.

Last year, both India and Sri Lanka expressed hope of expanding the proposed hub to include a refinery. They also discussed a power line to share electricity between them.