President on working visit to India

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday began a working visit to India where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Abdul Kalam and Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi. The President will also inaugurate the first ever conference of mayors of the sub-continent in Dehradun today.

As the President began his Indian visit, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told Parliament last evening that the Government had and was having excellent relations with India. Mr.Samaraweera said that despite some “domestic compulsions’, India had been consistent in its support for a united Sri Lanka and the importance of the relationship between the two countries had been underscored by five visits he had made there as Foreign Minister this year.

There are reports that the mayors from Chennai are planning to boycott the conference.