The Hindu : National : Kadirgamar, Morshed Khan coming

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 28, 2004

National

National

Kadirgamar, Morshed Khan coming

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI, MAY 27. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, will be the first foreign dignitary to come here after the Congress-led Government took power. He is expected to arrive here on May 29.

Two days after Mr. Kadirgamar's arrival, the Bangladesh Foreign Minister, Morshed Khan, will be coming to India in his capacity as special envoy of his President, Begum Khaleda Zia. The Foreign Minister, who spoke to the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, today, will be in India on May 31.

Mr. Kadirgamar, who had stopped over here on his way back from China recently, announced at the time his intention to return to India as soon as a new Government took power.

The visits of Mr. Kadirgamar and Mr. Khan show that neighbourhood diplomacy will obviously remain a priority for the Congress-led Government. Already, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse, has spoken to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

In turn, the statement made by the External Affairs Ministry spokesman after the telephone conversation between Dr. Singh and Mr. Rajapakse on Wednesday showed that there is unlikely to be any fundamental change in the approach taken by the National Democratic Alliance Government towards Sri Lanka.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National