The Hindu : National : Rajapaksa to visit India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006
ePaper

National

National

Rajapaksa to visit India

B. Muralidhar Reddy

To inaugurate Mayors' conference

Mahinda Rajapaksa

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa will be in India on a two-day visit from November 26.

A statement issued by the Foreign Office here on Monday said Mr. Rajapaksa would be visiting Dehra Dun "shortly" to inaugurate the Asian Mayors' Conference.

"On his way back to Colombo, the President would meet in New Delhi with senior Indian political leaders," the statement said.

However, Colombo is delaying a formal announcement on the visit pending the finalisation of Mr. Rajapaksa's meetings with the top Indian leadership. Mr. Rajapaksa visited New Delhi in December 2005 after he became President in November.

His latest visit will take place at a juncture when an undeclared war is on between the military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the Jaffna peninsula is faced with a humanitarian crisis due to the closure of A 9 highway since August 11.

There have been demands from within and without for a more active role for India in the resolution of the conflict. There are indications that Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will come to Colombo before Mr. Rajapaksa's visit. Mr. Menon was originally scheduled to be here on November 1 and 2, but the visit was postponed.

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

National

News Update

Stories in this Section