Sri Lanka PM Mahinda Rajapaksa meets EAM S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held talks with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who is currently on a five-day visit to India.

"Called on PM @PresRajapaksa of #SriLanka. Partners in development, progress, and security," Jaishankar tweeted after the meeting.

Earlier, the visiting dignitary had on Friday met Congress Party leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and discussed a wide range of issues.

"A delegation of Congress Party leaders met with H E Mahinda Rajapaksa, PM of Sri Lanka in Delhi yesterday. We had a friendly and cordial discussion on a wide range of issues, including ways to strengthen the relationship between our two countries," Gandhi wrote on Twitter today.

Rajapaksa arrived here on Friday evening.

The Sri Lankan leader is further expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind later today.

Other engagements of the day include his visit to the Rajghat -- where he will lay a wreath at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.

Rajapaksa will leave for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday where he will visit Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Sarnath Buddhist Temple. Security has been heightened in Varanasi ahead of Rajapaksa's visit.

On the morning of February 10, Rajapaksa will emplane for Bodh Gaya in Bihar -- where he will visit Mahabodhi Temple and Bodh Gaya Centre -- and later in the day to Tirupati, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.