'Jaffna spreading message of peace to world': PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said Jaffna is spreading the message of peace to the world and added that India is proud to have an opportunity to establish a unique and world level cultural centre there.

"Jaffna is making a new mark for itself, spreading message of peace to the world. India is proud to have an opportunity to establish a unique and world level cultural centre in Jaffna," Prime Minister Modi said after laying the foundation stone for the Jaffna Cultural Centre.

"I assure you that the work we've started will be completed well in time and will be better than your imagination. I'm confident that the Talaimannar Railway project will give pace to the development of this area," he added.

Earlier in the day, accompanied by Sri Lanka's President, Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura.

He also inaugurated the Talaimannar 1650 pier railway station and flagged off the Talaimannar- Medawachchiya train.

Narendra Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister and only the second foreign leader after British Premier David Cameron to visit Jaffna in the Northern province, where he will hand over homes built with the help of Indian assistance to the Tamils.

Some 20,000 such homes were built in Jaffna described by India as a flagship cooperation project in Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister is in Sri Lanka on the third and final leg of his five-day three-nation tour and is the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka in 28 years.