PM Modi to visit Maha Bodhi society, IPKF memorial in Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a tight schedule during his visit to Sri Lanka later this week, where he will hold delegation-level talks with President Sirisena, visit the Maha Bodhi Society and pay tributes at the IPKF memorial, among other activities.

"The Prime Minister arrives on 13 March. He has a ceremonial welcome later in the morning, and then moves in to talk with President Sirisena and his delegation. This will be followed by an exchange of signing of agreements and press statements by the PM and the President," said Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar.

"Later on that morning, the Prime Minister visits the Maha Bodhi society with which we have long standing connection. And then he goes for a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. The lunch is followed by a meeting with the Prime Minister," he added.

Prime Minister Modi will also deliver an address to the Parliament, after which he will meet Parliament members and then go on to the IPKF memorial to pay homage to the IPKF soldiers.

"We have a set of meetings with different Sri Lankan political parties and laeaders, including the Tamil National Alliance and the leader of opposition and the former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The day will finish with a banquet in his honour by Sri Lankan President," added Jaishankar.

"In Jaffna, the PM will unveil the foundation plaque for the Jaffna Cultural Centre. He has a lunch with the Governor of the Northern Province and then he will be handing over homes in a part of Jaffna which have been built by us for internally displaced persons. This is the flagship cooperation project with Sri Lanka right now," he said.

Prime Minister Modi's visit to Sri Lanka will be the first bilateral visit after 28 years which seeks to strengthen India's overall ties with the island nation.

"We are looking at strengthening economic cooperation, discussing trade, investment both ways. We are looking at scaling up development cooperation particularly in infrastructure and rehabilitation, reconstruction activities that we support," said Jaishankar.