Sri Lankan President arrives; security beefed up
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has arrived on a three-day state visit to Nepal at the invitation of Nepali president Dr Ram Baran Yadav Monday morning.
President Rajapaksa arrived in Kathmandu with his wife Shiranthi Rajapaksa and other high-level Sri Lankan delegates by a chartered flight of the Sri Lankan Airlines at around 11:30 am. Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav received the President and his team at the airport.
Rajapakse is the highest level foreign dignitary to visit Nepal after the Constituent Assembly elections in April last year and the third Sri Lankan President to visit Nepal ever.
President Dr Ram Baran Yadav will host banquet at his office in honor of the Sri Lankan President Monday afternoon.
The Sri Lankan President and Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will hold bilateral talks on issues related to trade, investment, tourism, agriculture, aviation and other feasible areas where the two countries can cooperate with each other. A Foreign-minister level joint commission will be announced after the meeting.
The Sri Lankan President will also visit Buddhist Shrines in Lumbini and Kathmandu and the SAARC Secretariat in Thamel. Sri Lanka currently chairs the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Security has been heightened in Kathmandu for Rajapaksa’s visit in view of the ongoing insurgency in Sri Lanka steered by the separatist armed outfit, LTTE. Some 1500 security personnel including Nepal Police, Armed Police and Nepal Army have been deployed at various places in Kathmandu. nepalnews.com ta Mar 02 09
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