PM Modi receives ceremonial reception at Presidential Secretariat in Colombo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Presidential Secretariat here on Friday.

After the reception, Prime Minister Modi met Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

Prime Minister Modi, who arrived in Colombo this morning from the Mauritian capital Port Louis, was received at the airport by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

He 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 the country in 28 years.

After the summit-level talks, delegation-level talks will also be held between both sides today. A number of agreements and MoUs will be signed after the talks.

The issue of Indian fishermen, safe and respectful repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees and cooperation in development of connectivity within the country and with neighbouring countries are likely to dominate the talks between the two leaders. Investment, trade, commerce, and energy and maritime security are also high on their agenda.

Prime Minister Modi will also address the Sri Lankan Parliament later today.

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