Lankan President to meet Pranab, Manmohan

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse will be in New Delhi on Thursday on a brief visit during which he will hold talks with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the ethnic Tamil question and other issues of bilateral interest.

In the first high-level interaction after India voted against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC, Rajapakse will meet Mukherjee and hold talks with Singh over dinner on Thursday during which all issues of bilateral interest would be discussed.

The Sri Lankan President, who is visiting India primarily to lay foundation stone a Buddhist Centre of Learning in Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, will make a brief stop over in Delhi, the External Affairs Ministry said.

During the talks with Singh, Rajapakse is expected to brief him on the steps being taken to follow-up the military victory with a political solution to resolve the decades-old Tamil question.

Singh is expected to get an update on the developmental programmes being implemented by India in the war-torn northern Sri Lanka.

“All issues of bilateral interest will be discussed. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host a dinner for the visiting President,” external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

After the brief stop over, Rajapakse will fly to Madhya Pradesh to participate in the foundation laying ceremony of the Buddhist Centre.

The Sri Lankan President’s visit has generated political heat in Tamil Nadu where almost all political parties are opposed to his India visit.

MDMK chief Vaiko, a strong votary of Sri Lankan Tamils issue, has announced holding of a rally against Rajapakse’s visit in Madhya Pradesh on Friday.

(IBNLive)