Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Colombo on Friday for a three-day visit to Sri Lanka, where he is expected to hold bilateral talks and oversee the signing of key agreements in the energy, health, digital infrastructure and defence sectors. PM received a special welcome at Colombo. Despite the rain, Sri Lanka's top five ministers received him at the airport at 9 pm.
Sri Lankan Ministers Vijitha Herath, Nalinda Jayatissa, Anil Jayantha, Ramalingam Chandrasekar, Saroja Savithri Paulraj and Chrishantha Abeysena received PM Modi at the airport.
PM Modi's special welcome in Sri Lanka | Video
PM Modi shares pictures of the grand welcome in Colombo
PM Modi expressed gratitude to the Sri Lankan ministers for the great welcome. "Landed in Colombo. Grateful to the ministers and dignitaries who welcomed me at the airport. Looking forward to the programmes in Sri Lanka," PM's X post reads.
PM also shared some moments from the community welcome and posted pictures on X. The post reads, "During the community welcome, also saw translations of the thoughts of Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev, Sri Sri Madhabdev, books on music, Indian stories and parts of the Gita Govinda in Pali. May these cultural bonds thrive forever!"
PM Modi's Sri Lanka visit
India and Sri Lanka share civilisational bonds with strong cultural and historic links. This visit is part of regular high level engagements between the countries and will lend further momentum in deepening the multi-faceted partnership between India and Sri Lanka. Indian High Commissioner, Santosh Jha, in an interview, said engagement in the energy sector has been one of the "strongest pillars" of the India-Sri Lanka partnership, adding a couple of agreements are likely to be firmed up to broadly ensure the supply of cheaper energy to the island nation.
PM Modi is visiting Sri Lanka after receiving an invitation from President Dissanayake. PM concluded his trip to Bangkok today, where he attended a summit of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).
As per the schedule, PM Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Saturday. Following the meeting, India and Sri Lanka are expected to come out with around 10 outcomes, including boosting cooperation in areas of defence, energy security and digitalisation.
The Prime Minister will be the first foreign leader to be hosted by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka after he took charge last September. Modi last travelled to Sri Lanka in 2019. It will be his fourth visit to the island nation since 2015.