The newly elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was accorded a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan here on Friday. Rajapaksa was received by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier in the day, Rajapaksa met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Prime Minister Modi and Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will hold talks at Hyderabad House later here today. Both leaders are likely to discuss areas of cooperation and ways to strengthen the existing bilateral relations between the two countries. After holding talks at the Hyderabad House, both leaders will issue a joint statement. The Sri Lankan President will later call on President Kovind. Rajapaksa arrived in the national capital on Thursday, his first overseas trip since he took over as the island nation’s President. He was received by Union Minister VK Singh. The Sri Lankan President is leading a high-level delegation which includes Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha and Treasury Secretary S R Attygalle. He is slated to attend a programme in the city on Saturday. Later in the evening, Rajapaksa will emplane for Sri Lanka. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in a statement, had said that the Indian government is ready to work very closely with the new government in Sri Lanka and expressed hope that it will fulfil the aspirations of the Tamil community living in the island nation. 70-year-old Rajapaksa had defeated United National Party (UNP) candidate Sajith Premadasa by more than 13 lakh votes in the recently-concluded presidential elections in Sri Lanka. He is the second member of the Rajapaksa family to become the president.
