"We are working on this together and it will be ready when the two prime ministers meet in New Delhi," Sinha told reporters here shortly after talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart Tyronne Fernando.

Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe travels to New Delhi at the weekend when he will take up the "Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement" (CEPA) with his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Sinha and Fernando concluded talks under the Joint Commission which reviews bilateral relations and trade cooperation between the two South Asian neighbours.

"The trade balance will gradually come down with Indian companies able to import more things from Sri Lanka under the FTA (Free Trade Agreement)," Sinha said, referring to the free trade pact in place since 1998.

The balance of trade which favoured India 15 to one when the agreement was signed has come down to five to one, according to the central bank here.

Bilateral trade reached one billion dollars last year with Indian exports amounting to 831 million dollars, up from 604 million dollars in 2001.

Sri Lanka's exports to India rose more dramatically to hit 167.7 million dollars last year, up from 70.8 million dollars in 2001.

However, India still does not allow free access to Sri Lanka's main export commodity, tea, as well as garments in a bid to protect its own local producers.

Sinha marked his visit to Sri Lanka by donating 7.5 million dollars for the setting up of a cancer treatment centre in Colombo and 21,000 dollars to help rehabilitation work in the island's south, a CT scanner to a hospital in the northern war torn Jaffna area and a bus to Jaffna university.