Sanjay Mitra on 2-day visit to Sri Lanka to hold defence talks

Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra arrived on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka on Sunday during which he will call on President Maithripala Sirisena and participate in several high-level defence meetings. Mitra, who arrived in Colombo along with six other Indian officials, will also visit the central town of Kandy and the north-central town of Anuradhapura, Sri Lankan officials said.

The Defence Secretary will have bilateral defence talks in Colombo and will take part in several high-level meetings. He is scheduled to meet President Sirisena, his counterpart Hemasiri Fernando and chief of defence staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, officials said.

Mitra's visit comes nearly three months after a constitutional and political crisis precipitated by Sirisena's action to sack Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and replace him with Mahinda Rajapaksa. The over 50-day constitutional and political impasse ended mid-December when Sirisena was directed by the Supreme Court to restore Wickremesinghe.