New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on Tuesday on a five-day visit to the three island nations of Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
Briefing reporters ahead of prime minister's visit, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said India has historical linkages with the three countries as also "very strong" people-to-people bonds.
He said India's commercial cooperation has grown significantly with the three ocean economies and they offer new possibilities of cooperation.
"We are very bullish about the relationships," Jaishankar said.
In Seychelles, the first stop of his tour, Modi will hold bilateral discussions with President James Alexis Michel to strengthen maritime ties and enhance bilateral development cooperation.
Modi will be the second Indian prime minister to visit Seychelles after Indira Gandhi's visit in 1981.
The prime minister will visit Mauritius on March 11-12 where he will hold intensive meetings with Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth to further strengthen India's special and unique relations with that country. He will address also Mauritian parliament.
He will visit Sri Lanka in the last leg of his visit on March 13-14 and will hold meetings with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Modi will address a special sitting of the Sri Lankan parliament and also lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) Memorial and visit the Mahabodhi Society.
Jaishankar said the prime minister will hand over some houses built with India's assistance for the internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka.
"We have been a fairly significant contributor to rebuilding of Sri Lanka," he said.
Jaishankar said Modi's visit to Sri Lanka will be the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister in over two decades.
Asked if Modi will meeting former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Jaishankar said he "did not have anything on that yet."
Modi had said in tweets Sunday that he was looking forward to enhancing India's ties with the friendly Indian Ocean countries of Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
British scientists made dexamethasone drug, experts said - it is fatal for patients with mild symptoms, but beneficial for severe patients
Ronnie Karin Rabin. Last week, British scientists declared success in the war against Covid 19. He claimed to have found the first drug to reduce deaths among Covid 19 patients. The results of this
PM Modi Garba Song: PM Modi wrote the Garba song, and shared it on the occasion of Navratri
Navratri is being celebrated with great pomp across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday shared his 'Garba' song written on the occasion of Durga Puja on social media.
Akshay Kumar: 'One should accept the failure of his films', Rajatav Dutta praised Akshay's statement
Bollywood player Kumar i.e. Akshay Kumar is in discussion about his film 'Selfie'. Akshay's film did not manage to do well at the box office. The film 'Selfie' has collected only Rs 10.2 crore in
PM Modi becomes emotional in Varanasi: 'I am overwhelmed and emotional... Today Mother Ganga adopted me'
On Monday evening, a day before nomination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi garlanded the statue of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya in front of the BHU gate and conducted a road show. BJP claims that around
FM on Inflation: Finance Minister comforts on inflation, government monitoring rising prices
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the government is taking steps where necessary by monitoring the price of each item separately, after the news of retail inflation in the
Amritsar Encounter: The accused of the grenade attack on the temple in Amritsar was killed in a police encounter; the constable injured
The prime accused in the recent grenade attack on a temple in Amritsar was killed in a police encounter on Monday morning. The suspect has been identified as Gursidak Singh.
James Bond ditches formals for latest film poster
Los Angeles, March 18 (IANS) Sony and EON productions revealed a new teaser poster for the upcoming 24th sequel in the Bond films franchise, "Spectre", and it features James Bond's character
West Bengal Panchayat Results 2023: Mamta's big victory, but who will get an edge in 2024?
The ruling Trinamool Congress has won a major victory in the West Bengal Panchayat Election Results in West Bengal. The party is moving ahead with a victory of more than 12518 seats. This election
India Inc. warns of Hindalco coal case impact on investors
New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Reacting to the special CBI court summons to industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla as an accused in the coal scam case, Indian Inc. on Thursday cautioned about its
Metropolis Healthcare jumps 17% on strong long-term growth prospects
कोटक इंस्टीट्यूशनल इक्विटीज ने आकर्षक वैल्यूएशन पर 'सेल' से 'ऐड' में स्टॉक को
