Sri Lankan President Rajapakse arrives in India

The Sri Lankan President is on a four day visit and would be discussing the country's ethnic conflict and bilateral issues with PM Manmohan Singh.

Published on: Nov 25, 2006, 19:59:00 IST

None | By Anonymous, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse arrived in New Delhi on Saturday on a four-day visit during which he will hold talks with PM Manmohan Singh on the country's ethnic conflict.

Rajapakse, who on Sunday will give the inaugural address at the Asian Mayors conference in Dehradun in Uttaranchal, is coming to India for a second time in a year. He was last here in December 2005.

Rajapakse, who flew from Colombo in a scheduled aircraft, was given a warm welcome on his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

At least three Sri Lankan ministers - Mangala Samaraweera (foreign), Rohita Bogollagama (investment promotion and enterprise development) and Douglas Devananda (social services) - will be joining him on Sunday.

Rajapakse and Manmohan Singh last met in Havana in September on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Nations summit.

Besides the ethnic conflict, issues concerning bilateral relations including trade will figure in the discussions.

Sri Lankan opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will also be in India next week.

India is concerned over the situation in Sri Lanka, where some 2,500 people have died and thousands have been displaced this year alone in unending violence.

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.