Sri Lankan PM to arrive Tuesday

New Delhi, Oct 3: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe will arrive here Tuesday on a three-day visit during which he will hold talks with the top leadership including his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

His visit assumes significance as India had last week pulled out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November, indirectly blaming Pakistan for creating an environment which is not right for the successful holding of the SAARC Summit.

Besides Modi, Wickramasinghe would hold meetings with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday.

Later in the evening, he will call on President Pranab Mukherjee. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister will attend the opening plenary of the India Economic Summit on Thursday before leaving for Colombo in the evening.

Sri Lanka had on September 30 pulled out of 19th SAARC Summit, becoming the fifth country to do so after Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, virtually isolating Pakistan in the region.

The development came after tensions ran high between India and Pakistan after militants stormed an Indian Army base in Uri on September 18, killing 19 soldiers. The militants belonged to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist group.

PTI