'Warm welcome by a close neighbour': Sushma Swaraj calls on Sri Lanka PM Wickremesinghe

Colombo: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe here on Friday, the first day of her two-day visit to this island nation. External affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted:

A warm welcome by a close neighbour.
EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on PM Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees pic.twitter.com/Hqj8ITmdq9

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) February 5, 2016

Earlier on Friday, she was received on her arrival here by her Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera. She is scheduled to attend the ninth session of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission which she co-chairs with Samaraweera. The joint commission was established in 1992 as an effective mechanism to address matters pertaining to bilateral cooperation. Ahead of Swaraj’s visit, Swarup said on Thursday that the discussions in Friday’s joint commission meeting would cover the entire gamut of the relationship between the two countries. Included in these would be economic cooperation, trade, power and energy, technical and maritime cooperation, social, cultural and educational matters, science and technology, defence cooperation, health, civil aviation, tourism and people-to-people contacts. During the course of her visit, Sushma Swaraj will also call on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and former president Chandrika Kumaratunga. On Saturday, the Indian minister will inaugurate a “Rise of Digital India” exhibition as part of “Sangam - Festival of India in Sri Lanka 2015-16”. The exhibition will showcase the rise of the computing sector and digital technologies in India. The re-framing of the Sri Lankan Constitution and the issue of Indian fishermen might also come up during the course of the discussions between the two sides. IANS