Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has left for India on a four-day state visit this afternoon (07).
He is set to hold high-level bilateral talks with President Ram Nath Kovind, his Indian counterpart PM Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S S Jaishankar on trade, defence, and maritime security cooperation.
This is the first overseas visit undertaken by PM Rajapaksa since his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected President in November 2019.
The Premier will reach New Delhi this evening and his meeting with Jaishankar is set for tomorrow (08) after which he will be accorded a ceremonial reception by the Indian President at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
PM Rajapaksa will then proceed to Raj Ghat for the wreath-laying ceremony, following which he will keep his meeting with the PM Modi at Hyderabad House. In the evening on Saturday, he will call on the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
On Sunday (February 9) morning, the PM will travel to Varanasi and visit Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Sarnath Buddhist temple.
He will be travelling to Bodh Gaya on Monday to visit the Mahabodhi Temple and later that day reach Tirupati early morning on Tuesday. At 11.30 am he will emplane for his trip back to Sri Lanka.
-with inputs from Agencies
