Lankan Foreign Minister to visit India

New Delhi, Jun 13 (UNI) Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama will arrive here on Sunday on a whirlwind day-long tour for discussions with top Indian leadership on the situation in the island nation, The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, who arrives at 2100 hrs on Sunday, will have discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday.

He will depart the same evening at 1845 hrs, the External Affairs Ministry announced here today.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister is likely to extend an invitation to the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister to attend the 15th SAARC Summit to be held in the island nation from July 27 to August 3.

The summit will be presided over by Dr Manmohan Singh before handing over the chair to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Sources said Mr Bogollagama will also brief the Indian leaders on the need for constant vigilance against LTTE movements.

Defence Minister A K Antony has said any deterioration in the security situation in Sri Lanka would have an adverse impact on peace and security within India.

''New Delhi is keeping a close watch on the security situation in Sri Lanka,'' Mr Antony said while addressing the Unified Commanders Conference here on June 10.

India recently agreed to provide high quality seeds to Sri Lanka.

The assurance was given to Mr Bogollagama by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on the sidelines of the High Level Conference on World Food Security, convened by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome on June 3.

The Indian delegation to this summit was led by Mr Pawar and the Sri Lankan delegation by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Both the delegations agreed to consider suitable options to address the phenomenon of soaring prices of staple commodities, particularly rice in the South Asian region.

The two countries acknowledge the vital need for a Food Bank in the SAARC region.

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