Lankan President Rajapaksa to visit India on November 29

COLOMBO: Newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will travel to India on November 29 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday. Jaishankar made the announcement after meeting Rajapaksa, who was sworn in as the country’s new President on Monday.

“A warm meeting with Sri Lanka President @Gotabayar. Conveyed PM @narendramodi’s message of a partnership for shared peace, progress, prosperity & security.

Confident that under his leadership, #Indiasrilanka relations would reach greater heights,” he tweeted after the meeting which came hours after President Rajapaksa assumed the office on Tuesday.

Jaishankar, who arrived here on a two-day unannounced visit, said President Rajapaksa has accepted Prime Minister Modi’s invitation to visit India on November 29.

Rajapaksa stormed to victory in the Sri Lankan presidential elections, the results of which came on Sunday. Modi called

Rajapaksa on Sunday to congratulate him on his electoral win and invited him to visit India as his first official foreign tour. The Lankan leader thanked the Prime Minister for his good wishes and expressed his readiness to work with India very closely to ensure development and security, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Conveying the good wishes on behalf of the people of India and on his own, Modi expressed confidence that under the able leadership of Rajapaksa, the people of Sri Lanka will progress further on the path of peace and prosperity.

Rajapaksa is the younger brother of the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He is credited with helping end the island nation’s long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during his tenure as the defence secretary.