Modi here on 14-15 March

Monday, 26 January 2015 00:30 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

First visit by an Indian PM in 28 years By Dharisha Bastians Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Sri Lanka on 14 March for a two-day state visit, diplomatic sources told Daily FT.

Prime Minister Modi will be the first Indian leader to undertake a state visit to Sri Lanka since Rajiv Gandhi in 1987. Indian Premiers have since visited Sri Lanka only for Multi-lateral meetings, such as SAARC. The Indian Prime Minister will be in the island for high level meetings on 14-15 March, Daily FT learns. The Indian Premier’s visit will take place exactly one month after President Maithripala Sirisena travels to New Delhi on 16-19 February, for his first foreign visit since assuming office. The new Sri Lankan administration has pledged to “reset” relations with New Delhi that had soured somewhat under President Mahinda Rajapaksa who repeatedly attempted to use China’s growing influence in the island as leverage with India. President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe have indicated they seek to restore the equilibrium.