Lankan Foreign Minister to visit India next week

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris will be visiting India next week to hold talks with his counterpart Sushma Swaraj during which key issues, including the welfare of Tamils in Lanka and fishermen, are expected to be discussed.
Ministry of External Affairs' spokesperson said India and Lanka were working on Peiris' visit and "it is likely that he will visit this month".
On the issue of Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan jails, he said more than 175 fisherman have been released since the new government took over and "there is a small number of fishermen who are still in the custody of Sri Lanka and our Mission is working" to secure their release.

This will be Peiris' second visit to India after the installation of the new government here. Earlier, he had accompanied Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who attended Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in on May 26.
Modi, who held a bilateral meeting with Rajapaksa a day after the swearing-in, had pitched for "early and full implementation" of the reconciliation process to meet the aspirations of Tamil community in Sri Lanka and also discussed the fishermen issue.