New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday left for Sri Lanka to lay the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the island nation next week.
Modi will be in Sri Lanka on March 13-14, during which he will hold meetings with President Maithripala Sirisena and other senior leaders across the political spectrum.
Modi is to address the Sri Lankan parliament on March 13. His will be the first state visit by an Indian prime minister after 1987 when then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi visited the island nation.
Prime Minister Modi is also scheduled to visit Jaffna.
The visit by Modi comes as Colombo has decided to suspend the $1.5 billion Colombo Port City Project with China, pending an examination of approval obtained by the Chinese project proponent.
Sri Lankan government spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne announced in Colombo on Thursday that the cabinet had, on Wednesday, approved a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to immediately suspend implementation of the Colombo Port City Project (CPCP) being built on reclaimed land next to the Colombo harbour port.
The government is to advise the contractor China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) to present, within a period of two weeks, all approvals that it had obtained from relevant institutions for implementation of the project, according to The Island daily.
Wickremesinghe had said that the CPCP had been signed without cabinet approval and following due procedure.
India has opposed part of the agreement that would give ownership of 20 hectares of land on a freehold basis to the Chinese contractor, a state owned company. India uses the Colombo Port primarily for trans-shipment purposes, said The Island.
President Sirisena announced recently that all projects entered into with China, including the CPCP, would be thoroughly re-assessed during his scheduled official visit to Beijing this month.
Sushma Swaraj will hold talks with her counterpart Mangala Samaraweera, who visited India in January after the new government of President Sirisena took over.
Sirisena visited India in February on his maiden foreign trip after taking over in January.
Political turmoil in Pakistan: Shahbaz became the 23rd Prime Minister, instead of the President, the Senate Chairman administered the oath; Modi also congratulated Shahbaz
Shahbaz Sharif has become the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Shahbaz was administered the oath by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. Surprisingly, President Arif Alvi did not come to administer the
IPL 2021: Will Afghan cricketers Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi play in UAE? Sunrisers made a big statement
Following the ongoing political turmoil in Afghanistan, it was expected that the country's top cricketers Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi would not play for the rest of the upcoming IPL season. The
FTA: India-UK free trade agreement will be signed in Indonesia, Modi and Sunak will meet in November
The much-awaited Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK will be ratified at the G-20 summit meeting to be held in Bali, Indonesia in mid-November. On the sidelines of this meeting, there
Capitol Attack: President Joe Biden, angry at the Republicans for the Capitol attack, said - should be ashamed
US President Joe Biden lashed out at Donald Trump's Republican Party on Wednesday. A mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump attacked Congress on January 6, 2021. It is alleged that Fox
'A silence that...', Alia Bhatt wrote an emotional note for the Indian Army, then why did she get trolled?
After the Pahalgam terror attack, India destroyed the terrorist hideouts through Operation Sindoor. Since then, there has been tension between India and Pakistan. Five Indian soldiers were martyred in
Celebrities in support of farmers: Hollywood star Amanda and singer Rihanna descended on support; Foreign Ministry said - know the matter before comment
The 70-day farmer movement in India has received the support of many big personalities of the world. Many foreign celebrities have lent support to farmers, including star Mian Khalifa, Hollywood
New record of GST collection: Revenue of Rs 1.23 lakh crore in March, highest ever collection, earnings from import grew by 70%
The country's economy is constantly improving. This is the reason that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection set a new record in March. According to government data, the GST collection in March
France's big decision before Modi-Macron meeting: Withdraws from the submarine project for Navy, P-75 refuses to join India project
PM Narendra Modi is on a Europe tour. During his Europe tour, he will also visit France, where he will also meet Emmanuel Macron, the second-time President. But, even before Modi's visit to France,
Many prisoners were publicly hanged in Russia: It was forbidden to fire on Ukrainian soldiers in the war
Russia's attacks on Ukraine continued for the 322nd day. Meanwhile, in Russia, prisoners who refused to open fire on Ukrainian forces were publicly hanged. Some prisoners said they were sent to the
Facebook's former data scientist Francis Haugen said - the company put more profit than safety
Former Facebook data scientist Francis Haugen has accused the social network of giving priority to profit over security. He said he believes strict government oversight can address issues ranging from
