Rajnath Singh defers visit to Sri Lanka

Rajnath Singh remains committed to strong bilateral cooperation between India and Sri Lanka and looks forward to visiting the island nation at the earliest, the defence ministry said

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh’s two-day visit to Sri Lanka, beginning Saturday, to boost bilateral ties has been deferred due to unavoidable circumstances, the defence ministry said in a statement on Friday evening.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was scheduled to begin his visit to Sri Lanka on Saturday (PTI file)

Singh remains committed to strong bilateral cooperation between India and Sri Lanka and looks forward to visiting the island nation at the earliest, the statement added.

During the visit, Singh was supposed to hold talks with President and defence minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. The entire gamut of India’s defence ties with Sri Lanka was to be reviewed during the meetings, according to an official release issued earlier in the day.

“This visit of Shri Rajnath Singh will reiterate India’s continued commitment in furthering the existing warm and friendly relations with Sri Lanka. It will be an important landmark in building the strong bonds of friendship between the two countries,” the previous release said.

INS Delhi, the navy’s first indigenously designed and built guided missile destroyer, arrived at Colombo on Friday on a two-day visit, officials said. According to the earlier plan, Singh was scheduled to host Wickremesinghe and other dignitaries onboard the warship on Saturday.