Lankan PM Rajapaksa to visit India from Friday; trade, defense, maritime talks on cards

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will undertake a four-day state visit to India and hold talks on a number of key areas including trade, defense and maritime security cooperation, his office announced here on Thursday. The visit, beginning February 7, will be the Rajapaksa senior's first overseas visit since his brother Gotabaya was elected President in November.

He will have meetings with President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. "The scheduled meetings will build on the strong relationship that already exists between the two countries," Mahinda's office said in a statement.

Mahinda hopes to finalize the implementation of the USD 450 million line of credit pledged by Prime Minister Modi to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during his visit to New Delhi in November, according to the statement. "With the aim of enhancing engagement in sub-regional maritime security cooperation, the two delegations are expected to discuss key areas under the defense and maritime security initiatives that include the Sri Lanka-India annual defense dialogue and the trilateral maritime security cooperation with India and the Maldives," it said.

Rajapaksa also intends to visit the religious sites of Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Tirupathi, it said. Two Tamil ministers in the Rajapaksa government -- Douglas Devananda from the north and Armugam Thondaman from the central tea plantation districts -- are expected to be in the 10-member delegation, the statement added.

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