Sri Lankan president arrives in India on 4-day visit

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena arrived in India Sunday on a four-day visit during which he will hold talks with the Indian leaders on strengthening bilateral relations, said officials.

This is also the first visit abroad since Sirisena became president last month.

A wide range of bilateral issues including ways to further enhance economic and trade cooperation, higher education ties, tourism, and the peace and reconciliation process in the island nation will be discussed during his meetings with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Indian leaders on Monday, said officials.

The Sri Lankan president will also travel to the Buddhist pilgrimage site Bodh Gaya and a temple in Tirupati on Tuesday before returning home Wednesday.

Briefing the media on the presidential visit, a spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said both countries are looking at "substantive talks" in terms of announcement of agreements and frameworks.

India has been calling on Colombo to develop Sri Lanka on the " foundation of genuine and effective reconciliation", creating harmony between all sections there, especially with the Tamil minority people.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera visited India last month after the forming of the new government in Colombo.

During his talks with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj, the two agreed to re-engage on repatriation of Tamil refugees from India and try to solve the continuing fishermen issue between the two countries.

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