Colombo, Feb 7 (IANS) Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday embarked on a two-day state-visit to India, during which the two neighbours were expected to finalise an implementation agenda for a $450 million line of credit offered by New Delhi.
Rajapaksa was accompanied by a 10-member delegation, reports Xinhua news agency.
In a statement on Monday, Rajapaksa’s office said that the line of credit was announced by his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during President Gotabaya Rajapaksa state-visit to New Delhi last November shortly after being elected, the Daily Financial Times reported.
While $400 million will be for infrastructure projects, $50 million will be given as a grant for Sri Lanka to fund security needs including resources needed to fight terrorism, the office added.
The Prime Minister will hold high-level bilateral meetings with Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other senior government officials.
Following his high-level engagements, Prime Minister Rajapaksa is scheduled to visit several historic religious sites including, Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodhgaya and Tirupati.
This is Mahinda Rajapaksa’s first visit to India since assuming office on November 18, 2019, and he is the third Sri Lankan government leader to visit New Delhi following the presidential election last year.
Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena had also visited New Delhi earlier this year.
–IANS
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