Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the island nation in early June, reported The Indian Express. Sirisena was in India to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi on Thursday. He attended a bilateral meeting with Modi at Hyderabad House on Friday.
Sirisena said Modi’s visit would be an “honour for the people of Sri Lanka”. “PM Modi’s visit is very important to us, we are neighbours and friends, this relationship between India and Sri Lanka dates back over 2,600 years,” Sirisena said. “We’re eagerly awaiting for his arrival.”
Modi is scheduled to travel to Maldives for his bilateral visit between June 7 and June 9. According to The Economic Times, he is likely to make a stopover in Colombo while returning from his trip to Male.
After Modi’s meeting with Sirisena, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement: “Both leaders noted that terrorism and extremism continue to pose threat to humanity and expressed commitment for closer bilateral cooperation for peace and security in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.”
Addressing the media after the bilateral talks, Sirisena said terrorism affects all. “Terrorism takes place in many forms all over world,” ANI quoted him as saying. “Some countries have domestic terrorists. Political and religious extremists organise extreme activities all over world. No matter how international terrorism takes place, it affects all.”
Sirisena said democratic nations must join hands against terrorism. “Whether they are powerful nations or small nations, all must get together against terrorism, it is only then will we able to defeat it,” he said.
Modi also met with leaders from the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation nations who were in the national capital to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
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