Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa To Visit India From February 7-11

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will visit India from February 7-11, during which he will hold extensive talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

Rajapaksa will arrive in India with a Sri Lankan delegation on February 7 and begin talks on 8 February.

A host of issues, including fulfilling the aspirations of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, the situation in the Indian Ocean region and ways to boost defence and trade ties, are expected to figure in the talks between Modi and the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, the Indian media reported.

“The visit is in continuation of the tradition of high-level exchanges between India and Sri Lanka,” Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kum.

As Mahinda Rajapaksa projects himself as a strong and able leader who is capable of keeping Sri Lanka safe and secured, he would like to enlist India’s support in his endeavor.

His forthcoming visit to Delhi is expected to consolidate the trust and confidence between the two sides and deepen their cooperation to several areas including security and intelligence-sharing.

The visit will make it clear that though China will continue to be a key player Sri Lanka’s trade and infrastructure development, Colombo is unlikely to do anything that undermines India’s security.

This is clearly an assurance that Mahinda Rajapaksa would like to convey to the Indian leadership before he embarks on his political fight to emerge as the main force in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Apart from his official engagement in Delhi, Mahinda Rajapaksa will also travel to Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya and Tirupati, Kumar said.

A host of issues, including fulfilling the aspirations of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka, the situation in the Indian Ocean region and ways to boost defence and trade ties, are expected to figure in the talks between Modi and the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, the Indian media reported.

India is keen to establish closer links with the new Sri Lankan government and offer financial assistance to develop the country, particularly the Tamil-dominated North and East and estate community areas, the report said.

In his first overseas tour after taking over the reins of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa traveled to India on a two-day visit from 29-30 November 2019 and held talks with PM Modi.

PM Modi had announced financial assistance of USD 450 million to Sri Lanka including USD 50 million to fight terrorism after holding “fruitful” talks with the island nation’s President.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was in India on January 9–10 at the invitation of the Indian External Affairs Minister and held talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on exploring ways to further deepen bilateral ties in a range of areas including trade and investment.

The Prime Minister’s visit will come as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in Sri Lanka continue to push for a political solution for the Tamils which includes the full implementation of the Indian-brokered 13th amendment to the Constitution.

During President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s visit to India, PM Modi had highlighted the importance of implementing the 13th amendment to the Constitution.

Sources said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi when the former undertook an official visit to New Delhi last November.

It is expected that Mahinda will renew his invitation to Modi to visit Sri Lanka.

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Source:AT

Image Courtesy: Financial Express

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