Indian Opposition Leader calls on President

The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, who is leading an Indian parliamentary delegation to Sri Lanka met President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the President’s House in Colombo on Friday morning.

The BJP leader and the Sri Lankan President were expected to discuss the devolution of powers to the Northern and Eastern provinces and Swaraj was expected to convey the concerns of the major Tamil party, Tamil national Alliance (TNA) over a political solution to the ethnic issue.

The delegation has reaffirmed India’s commitment to Sri Lanka’s unity and called for progress in the dialogue for a political settlement to find a solution only within a united Sri Lanka.

First Lady Shiranthi Wickremasinghe Rajapaksa, Minister of External Affairs Prof. G. L. Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha and Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of Swaraj also participated in the occasion.