Sushma Swaraj arrives in Colombo, meets President Sirisena

Colombo, March 6: Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived here on Friday to participate in the third round of a high-level bilateral meet and lay the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the island nation next week.

She was received at the Bandaranaike International Airport by Sri Lankan Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith Perera.

Swaraj met President Maithripala Sirisena and Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Pinsiri Samaraweera. She will meet Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe on Saturday and discuss bilateral issues.

Modi will be in Sri Lanka on March 13-14, during which he will hold meetings with President Sirisena and other senior leaders across the political spectrum. He is to address the Sri Lankan parliament on March 13.

It will be the first state visit by an Indian prime minister after 1987 when then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi visited the island nation. Modi is also scheduled to visit Jaffna.

IANS