Sri Lanka, April 24 -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his country has proven the West doesn't have a monopoly on technology while inaugurating a hydropower and irrigation project in Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Raisi is the first Iranian leader to visit Sri Lanka since former President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad visited the country in 2008.

"The Western countries tried to convince all others that knowledge and technology is exclusive to those countries," Raisi said, addressing Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other top officials. He added that the "idea" was rooted in "colonialism and arrogance" and that Iran was now able to share its knowledge with others, currently having projects in 20 countries.

The Uma Oya project, in the ...