New Sri Lankan Prez to visit India on November 29

Sri Lanka's President Gobaya Rajapaksa will visit India on November 29, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed after meeting the newly-elected leader of the island nation in Colombo on Tuesday.

Rajapaksa was sworn in as the new President of Sri Lanka on Monday. Jaishankar was the first representative of a foreign government to meet him after he took the top office in the Indian Ocean island.

Jaishankar conveyed to Rajapaksa an invitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a visit to New Delhi on November 29. The new President of Sri Lanka accepted the invitation.

“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,” External Affairs Minister tweeted, along with pictures of the meeting.

“President @GotabayaR has accepted PM @narendramodi’s invitation to visit India on 29th November,” he continued in another post on Twitter.

Rajapaksa, younger brother of former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, won the presidential election in Sri Lanka on Sunday – marking the return of the Rajapaksa Clan to power after a gap of almost four years.

Jaishankar flew to Colombo on Tuesday as Modi Government was keen to reach out to the new leader of the southern neighbour of India.