Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo, in an unscheduled meeting.

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu told reporters, while briefing them about the Prime Minister’s itinerary over the day, that the meeting was held at Rajapaksa’s request.

The Indian envoy said that it was a very cordial discussion and that the former President was very happy about the development cooperation which India has been extending to Sri Lanka over the years including at the present.

Former foreign minister Prof. G.L. Peiris was also reportedly present during the meeting, which had occurred following the dinner hosted for the Indian PM by President Maithripala Sirisena at the President’s House last night.

Officials including India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Kumar Doval and Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had participated in the discussion from the prime minister’s side. 

In a interview in March, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa had claimed that it was Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s obsession with China that resulted in India working for a regime change in Sri Lanka in 2014.

Talking to members of Foreign Correspondents’ Association in Colombo, he had also claimed that Doval had twice asked him to cancel the China-funded Colombo Port City project and take back the southern container terminal at the Colombo port from the Chinese.

However, sources reveal that the discussion held last night with their participation had been quite cordial. 

The meeting comes days after opposition politicians backing Rajapaksa had called for a black flag protest around Prime Minister Modi’s visit.

The Joint Opposition had earlier accused Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena of compromising the country’s sovereignty and declared that black flags would be shown to the visiting Prime Minister.

In a recent media interview, however, Rajapaksa said that he admired Prime Minister Modi, years after blaming India for his defeat in the January 2015 Presidential polls.