20 October 2018 05:34 pm
The talks at the Hyderabad House came on the third and final day of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s India visit.
“Special place in our hearts for Sri Lanka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes the Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. At the delegation level talks, the leaders took stock of the entire range of our bilateral relations, specially the development projects in Sri Lanka,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders at the Hyderabad House.
During the visit, the two sides reviewed the status of the India assisted housing projects in Jaffna. They were also expected to deliberate on the Tamil issue — the reconciliation process and devolution of powers in the Tamil-dominated areas.
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s India visit comes in the backdrop of controversial media reports stating that Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, at a Cabinet meeting, allegedly accused Indian intelligence agency RAW of plotting his assassination. But this claim was firmly rejected as “false” by the Sri Lankan government.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj separately called on the visiting Sri Lankan leader.
Mr. Wickremesinghe and Mr. Singh discussed issues related to security and anti-terror cooperation between India and Sri Lanka.
In her meeting with the Sri Lankan Premier, Ms. Swaraj reviewed the progress of India assisted development projects in the island nation.
Mr. Wickremesinghe arrived on Thursday to boost ties in a range of areas, including trade, investment and maritime security.
On Friday, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi met Mr. Wickremesinghe and discussed cooperation between the two countries.(PTI)