President to hold bi-lateral talks with Indian PM

Manjula Fernando

COLOMBO: President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to hold top level bi-lateral meetings with the Indian leaders during his four day visit to Delhi and Dehradun from November 25 to 29.

The President will hold discussions with Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh and is expected to meet Congress Leader Sonia Gandhi during this State visit seen as important by political annalysts, given the developments taking place in the political and peace fronts. Official sources said the defence issues however, will not take centre stage. Instead, bi-lateral relations as a whole will be taken up at the discussions.

This will be the President's second meeting with the Indian Premier. Soon after taking office, the President made his first State visit to India and met Dr. Manmohan Singh at the Hyderabad House on December 28, last year.

President Rajapaksa will be the Chief Guest at the Asian Mayors Conference which will be opened in Dehradun on Saturday, November 25. He will meet the Indian leaders on his way back.

He is also expected to meet the Indian National Security Advisor M.K.Narayanan and the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukhrjee.

Meanwhile, the Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon is expected in the country on Wednesday, on a two day official visit as a prelude to the President's forthcoming tour of india.

He will meet President Rajapaksa on Thursday and is scheduled to leave the country the next day after meeting Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. Indian High Commission sources said this is also part of a customary familiarisation visit by the Foreign Secretary to its immediate neighbour upon his taking office last month.

The Foreign Secretary was scheduled to visit Colombo in the third week of October, soon after his appointment but the visit was later postponed due to other official obligations, sources added.