NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe has arrived on a three-day visit during which he will hold talks with the top leadership including his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
Wickramasinghe’s visit assumes significance as Sri Lanka was one of the four SAARC member-states which sided with India in pulling out of the SAARC summit, scheduled in Islamabad on November 9-10, following the terror attack on an army base in Uri on September 18 by Pakistan-based terrorists.
Other than Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have also pulled out of the summit saying the regional environment was “not conducive” for a successful meet. Besides Modi, Wickramasinghe would hold meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan tomorrow. Later in the evening, he will call on President Pranab Mukherjee. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister will attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday before leaving for Colombo in the evening.—PTI
