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President to hold talks with Modi
President Mahinda Rajapaksa leaves tomorrow for New Delhi to attend the swearing in of Narendra Modi as Indian’s new Prime Minister.
He will also hold bilateral talks with Mr. Modi. President Rajapaksa will also hold talks with at least two of the other foreign leaders attending the ceremony, External Affairs Ministry officials said.
The President is expected to hold discussions with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom who will be among eight foreign leaders attending the swearing-in ceremony. The other foreign leaders at the ceremony will be Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Bhutan Prime Minister Shereen Tapge, Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam, Nepal Prime Minster Sushil Koirala, and the Bangladesh’s Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury.
President Rajapaksa’s delegation will include External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga, Live Stock and Rural Community Development Minister Arumugam Thondaman, EAM Monitoring MP Sajin Vass Gunawardena and EAM Secretary Kshenuka Senewiratne.
The EAM official said the invitation extended to President Rajapaksa augured well for Indo-Lanka relations and showed that the new Government’s foreign policies would not be influenced by regional interests in India.