French President arrives in Sri Lanka

French President Emmanuel Macron and his delegation arrived in Sri Lanka a shortwhile ago, the President's Media Division said.

The delegtion included French Foreign Minister and State Minister of Overseas Territories.

Talks between the visiting Friennch Presidnet and t President Ranil Wickremesinghe were  due to take place .during the brief stop over here at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

President Macron arrived  in Sri Lanka on his return from Papua New Guinea,

Regional and global challenges are among the subjects to be taken up for discussion by the two leaders.

Security has been stepped inview of the visit around the Airport area.

Meanwhile Foreign Affairs Minister of Japan, Hayashi Yoshimasa also arrived  in Sri Lanka around 10.00 p.m. yesterday.

He is due to call on his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry at the Foreign inistry in Colombo, followed by a meeting with. President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

Mr. Murakami Manabu, the Senior Foreign Policy Coordinator; Arima Yutaka, the Director General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs; Endo Kazuya, the Director General International Cooperation; and Okano Yukiko, the Deputy Press Secretary from the Japanese Foreign Ministry and a 22-member delegation consisting of officials of the Japanese Foreign Ministry were  accompanying the Foreign Minister.