{"id":64526,"date":"2019-06-09T16:35:04","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T20:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=64526"},"modified":"2019-06-09T16:38:31","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T20:38:31","slug":"president-sirisena-holds-umbrella-for-visiting-indian-premier-narendra-modi-during-sudden-showers-in-colombo-and-presents-him-a-hand-carved-white-teak-replica-of-samadhi-buddhaestatue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=64526","title":{"rendered":"President Sirisena Holds Umbrella for Visiting Indian Premier Narendra Modi During Sudden Showers in Colombo and Presents him a Hand-carved White Teak Replica of “Samadhi Buddha” Statue."},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena during a meeting in Colombo on June 9, 2019. Twitter\/@MaithripalaS
\nPrime Minister Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena during a meeting in Colombo on June 9, 2019. Twitter\/@MaithripalaS <\/p>\n

India, Sri Lanka call for collective and focussed action to counter it
\nIn a visit spanning barely five hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with Sri Lanka\u2019s top leadership \u2013 both in government and Opposition in a string of short meetings in Colombo on Sunday. The focus in most of the interactions, sources said, was cooperation in economic initiatives, in countering terrorism. <\/p>\n

Even as he wound up his \u2018solidarity visit\u2019, Mr. Modi tweeted that he had a \u201cshort but immensely fruitful\u201d visit to the island. <\/p>\n

Mr. Modi, who was here on President Maithripala Sirisena\u2019s invitation, is the first foreign head of state to visit the island, after the ghastly Easter terror attacks that killed over 250 people. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Indian Prime Minister visited St. Anthony\u2019s church in Colombo and paid respects to those who died in the April 21 bombings.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince both Sri Lanka and India have been victims of terrorism, both the leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and decided to step up cooperation in this critical area,\u201d a statement from President Sirisena\u2019s media division said.<\/p>\n

On his meeting with President Sirisena, Mr. Modi said it was their second meeting in 10 days. \u201cPresident Sirisena and I agreed that terrorism is a joint threat that needs collective and focussed action. Reiterated India\u2019s commitment to partner with Sri Lanka for a shared, secure and prosperous future,\u201d he said in a tweet.<\/p>\n

After Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received his Indian counterpart at the Bandaranaike International Airport \u2014 President Sirisena accorded him a ceremonial welcome, with a guard of honour and a 19-gun salute. President Sirisena escorted Mr. Modi in, holding an umbrella for him as sudden showers struck Colombo. He threw a special banquet for his guest and presented him with a replica of the \u2018Samadhi Buddha Statue\u2019, hand-carved in white teak. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you @narendramodi, for your brief, but highly productive visit to our country today, thus proving you are a true friend of ours. I highly appreciate and value your kind gesture, support and cooperation extended to Sri Lanka,\u201d the President tweeted. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Mr. Wickremesinghe, tweeting on Mr.Modi\u2019s visit, said he looked forward to holding discussions including on increasing multi-lateral investment projects and collaboration in counter-terror actions.<\/p>\n

This is PM Modi\u2019s third visit to Sri Lanka, after earlier trips in March 2015 and May 2017. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval were part of Mr. Modi\u2019s delegation to Sri Lanka on Sunday, as they returned from the Maldives.<\/p>\n

A devotee during a mass outside St. Sebastian\u2019s Church, after it was partially opened for the first time since the Easter Sunday attacks in Negombo on May 9, 2019.<\/p>\n

The inside story of the 9 suicide bombers behind Sri Lanka\u2019s savage Easter attacks<\/p>\n

Former President and Leader of Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa called on Mr. Modi at India House, the official resident of the Indian envoy in Colombo. \u201cIt was a warm and cordial meeting,\u201d said Namal Rajapaksa, a legislator and son of Mr. Rajapaksa, who was also present at the meeting. \u201cMy father congratulated Mr. Modi on his election win and emphasised that stability at the Centre in India was good not just for India, but for the entire region.\u201d Further, Mr. Rajapaksa told Mr. Modi that India should lead the region not just in socio-economic growth, but also in counter-terrorism, according the young Hambantota MP.<\/p>\n

Mr. Modi met a delegation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), led by senior politician R. Sampanthan, representing the war-affected Tamil minority from the island\u2019s north and east. According to sources, the Tamil leadership emphasised that India urge the Sri Lankan government to frame a new Constitution, as had been promised by Mr. Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe, when their coalition came to power in 2015.<\/p>\n

India has historically been one of the arbiters for a political solution to Sri Lanka\u2019s Tamil question. Till date the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 remains a key document that speaks of substantive power devolution to the provinces.<\/p>\n

According to TNA spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran who attended the meeting, Mr. Modi assured the Tamil leaders that \u201cIndia was conscious\u201d of their demand. Further, he told them that he looked forward to meeting them soon in New Delhi, for a discussion on India\u2019s possible role in nudging the Sri Lankan leadership to frame a new Constitution.<\/p>\n

Indian community<\/strong><\/p>\n

Later, shifting gears from diplomacy to domestic politics, Mr. Modi addressed Colombo-based Indian community and thanked the people of India for a big mandate. \u201cWe achieved a lot in last five years\u2026much more has to be done in the coming years,\u201d he said to thundering applause, and urged Sri Lanka-based Indians to help strengthen bilateral ties.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena during a meeting in Colombo on June 9, 2019. Twitter\/@MaithripalaS Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena during a meeting in Colombo on June 9, 2019. Twitter\/@MaithripalaS India, Sri Lanka call for collective and focussed action to counter it …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘President Sirisena Holds Umbrella for Visiting Indian Premier Narendra Modi During Sudden Showers in Colombo and Presents him a Hand-carved White Teak Replica of “Samadhi Buddha” Statue.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64526"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64533,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64526\/revisions\/64533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}