Newly elected President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived in New Delhi this evening on a state visit to India on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation.
This is Mr Rajapaksa’s first overseas visit after assuming office.
During the three day visit, the Sri Lankan President will hold a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both leaders are likely to discuss further areas of cooperation and ways to strengthen existing bilateral relations between the two countries.
He will also call on President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow. The visiting dignitary will be accorded a ceremonial reception on the forecourts of Rashtrapati Bhawan tomorrow morning.
India is one of the largest investors in Sri Lanka with cumulative investments of around 1.239 billion dollars.
The investments are in diverse areas including petroleum retail, IT, financial services, real estate, telecommunication, hospitality and tourism, banking and food processing.
Sri Lanka is among the major recipients of development assistance from India. India’s overall commitment stands close to 3 billion dollars, out of which around 560 million dollars are purely in grants.