Sri Lanka PM to visit India ahead of Modi visit

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be visiting India from April 25-29, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis scheduled visit in the island nation next month for the Vesak Day celebrations.

Modi will inaugurate the 14th United Nations Day of Vesak celebration in Sri Lanka on May 12, an important Buddhist festival.

The Vesak festival would be held from May 12 to 14. The opening ceremony would be held at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH), while the closing ceremony will be held in Kandy.

Several countries have been invited for the UN Day of Vesak celebration in Sri Lanka, which is being held under the theme 'Buddha's Teachings, Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace.

The celebration are being held in Sri Lanka for the first time in 13 years.

Prime Minister Modi will be hosting a luncheon meeting with Wickremesinghe here on April 26.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari will call on the Sri Lankan leader.

Last year, Ranil was on on a three-day official visit to India from October 4-6 to attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit.

During the visit, both countries are likely to discuss the dispute over fishing activities in the Palk Bay and cooperation in the shipping and port sector.

--IANS

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