Rajapaksa restores ties with Modi
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who returned to Colombo on Friday after a visit to India, told Opposition confidants that Premier Narendra Modi appeared to be well briefed on developments in Sri Lanka.
“I did not have to tell him anything about what is going on,” he told senior members of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Rajapaksa is the de facto leader of the SLPP and was in India for a lecture.
A relaxed and cool Premier Modi, Rajapaksa said, had told him that whatever political differences that existed, “we are still friends.” He had then turned to Namal Rajapaksa, Hambantota District MP and declared “India is your second home. You are wel- come here anytime.”
Rajapaksa also said that Premier Modi spoke with great warmth. In media interviews he gave, the former President declared that he was willing to forget the past and work with India to further enhance better relations.
He was referring to previ- ous remarks he had made that the Indian spy agency RAW undermined his re-election in 2015 by helping his opponent to win.