Sri Lankan FM to visit India on January 9: report

Sri Lanka's Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardane will travel to India for his first official visit abroad on January 9, a media report said on Saturday. He would be in India for a couple of days, The Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

The details of his visit were not made public. It has been a practice for Sri Lankan Foreign Ministers to visit India for their first visit abroad.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa visited New Delhi soon after assuming office and held bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rajapaksa, 70, a former military officer, was sworn in as Sri Lanka's seventh President on November 18 after he defeated the ruling party candidate Sajith Premadasa by more than 13 lakh votes, marking the return of the powerful Rajapaksa dynasty.