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President hopes for closer ties with Modi
View(s):President Mahinda Rajapaksa is to send a special message to India‘s Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi, expressing hope for improved relations between the two countries, an External Affairs Ministry official said yesterday. The formal letter will be dispatched once the date for the swearing in of Mr. Modi as the new Prime Minister of India is confirmed. It has been drafted and kept embargoed till the formal swearing in, the EAM official said.
The President telephoned Mr. Modi on Thursday to congratulate him on his landslide victory at the Indian general elections and also invited him to make a state visit to Sri Lanka at his convenience. “They had a cordial dialogue,’ President‘s spokesman Mohan Samaranayaka said. Meanwhile a senior EAM official said Sri Lanka was hoping for improved relations with the BJP-led government of Mr. Modi. “When senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj led a delegation of Indian parliamentarians to Sri Lanka in 2012, she gave a very positive feedback about her visit here. We are hopeful that the new government will adopt a similar attitude towards Sri Lanka,” he said.
Meanwhile Mr. Samaranayaka said there was no decision yet on whether Sri Lanka would send representatives to the swearing in of Mr. Modi as Prime Minister.
Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa said the Indian election results showed that the people of India wanted a strong centre, a strong leadership and strong economic development.
He expressed hope that Mr. Modi would have a close relationship with the Sri Lankan President. “Since Independence, we have had good relations with whichever government is elected in India or Sri Lanka although there have been some issues from time to time. I think both sides will try to strengthen the relationship,” he said. “Narendra Modi showed that he is not led by anybody but is leading the people.”
Asked about the “Hindu nationalist” label Mr. Modi carries, Minister Rajapaksa said he did not accept definitions coined by the West without first studying the personality. “We have to see whether it (the label) is created by the Western media,” he said. “I think he is a person who will look after his people and do what the people want.”