Sri Lanka President to hold discussions with Indian PM during his visit to India tomorrow

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is visiting India on Thursday as the guest of honor at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, will hold bilateral talks with the Indian Prime Minister, the government said.

President Rajapaksa as the guest of honor will be joined by Britain's Prince Edward at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Sri Lanka External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday said that while the President is in New Delhi, he will also have bilateral discussions with the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh on matters of mutual interest between the countries.

Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G. L. Peiris will accompany President Rajapaksa on the visit to New Delhi, the Ministry announced.

"Minister Peiris will use his presence in New Delhi to hold discussions with several senior members of the Indian Cabinet including the External Affairs Minister, S. M. Krishna, Minister of Home Affairs P. Chidambaram, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma and the Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal," the Ministry said.

On Friday (15) Prof. Peiris is scheduled to deliver the Foundation Day Address of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi on "Growth, Equity, and Security: Constitutional Imperatives for South Asia".

India's External Affairs Minister is scheduled to arrive in Colombo later in the month on an official visit.

During his visit Minister Krishna is expected to tour the North to observe the progress of the resettlement of displaced Tamil people in the former war-torn region and hold discussions on the utilization of Indian grants.

Meanwhile, Indian media reported that the pro-LTTE Indian political leaders, DMK general secretary Vaiko and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan have condemned the central government's decision to invite President Rajapaksa as a chief guest of the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.