Modi holds bilateral meeting with SL President

A day after after being sworn in with his 57-member council of ministers by President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a bilateral meeting with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena.

In the first of a series of bilateral meetings with foreign leaders, Modi and Sirisena discussed issues of interest of the two countries here at Hyderabad House.

"Hitting the ground running! In the first of a series of bilateral meetings with foreign leaders lined up today, PM @narendramodi had a warm meeting with the President of #SriLanka @MaithripalaS at Hyderabad House. Discussed bilateral issues of interest," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Modi is slated hold more bilateral meetings with leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries along with the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius.

The BIMSTEC leaders on Thursday witnessed the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

BIMSTEC, besides India, includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The member leaders who attended the swearing-in ceremony were Sirisena, Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, Myanmar President U Win Myint, Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Special Envoy of Thailand Grisada Boonrach.

--IANS

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