Indian external affairs minister arrives in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO - Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna arrived in Sri Lanka Thursday for a three-day visit aimed at expanding ties between the two neighbours, officials said.

Krishna is to lead a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, G.L. Peiris, of a commission that is reviewing the status of joint projects undertaken by India and Sri Lanka, the foreign ministry in Colombo said.

“This will provide the two countries an opportunity to review the growing ties between Sri Lanka and India, monitor implementation of bilateral understandings and further enhance bilateral relations,” it said. “Several bilateral agreements will also be signed during the visit.”

Krishna is to initiate a project in which India is to construct 50,000 housing units for people displaced by the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and ethnic Tamil rebels, which ended last year with the separatists’ defeat.

He is to also open a consulate in Jaffna, 380 km north of Colombo, and in Hambantota, 360 km southeast of the capital, and meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, officials said.

The visit comes as relations between Sri Lanka and China have been warming with the latest progress being the opening of the first stage of a $1.5-billion, Chinese-funded port in Hambantota.