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Sri Lanka President to be Honored Guest at CWG closing ceremony & luncheon guest at PM Singhs home (New Update)
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will attend the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Thursday (October 14) evening as an "honoured guest," diplomatic sources told The Island here today.
The 19th edition of the CWG will be officially closed by Prince Edward, the Duke of York, on behalf of his mother Britains Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth.
The Games began with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Queens message was read out at the cceremony by her elder son Charles, the Prince of Wales.
The closing ceremony too is expected to be equally breath-taking. Watched by 65,000 spectators and a host of Indian and foreign dignitaries, the event will be telecast live to an estimated audience of about two billion people across 71 Commonwealth states.
The Government of India and the Organising Committee of the CWG have jointly invited President Rajapaksa to grace the closing ceremony. He will arrive here by a Sri Lankan airlines special flight during the day on Thursday.
On Friday, Dr Manmohan Singh has invited him for a meeting at his official residence, to be followed by lunch. He will fly back home the same afternoon.
Meanwhile, the presidents presence at the closing ceremony of CWC Delhi 2010 is likely to strengthen Sri Lankas bid to host the 21st edition of the Games in 2018 in Hambantota, his home town represented in Parliament by his son Namal.
Scotland is hosting the 20th edition of the Games in 2014 in Glasgow.
Australia is the only other country vying to host the prestigious event in the Gold Coast in the province of Queensland.
The winning bid will be announced in St Kitts, an island in the Caribbean, in Novemberr 2011.
A record number of 6,700 athletes and delegates are participating in the Games here, making this edition the largest ever in the 80-year history of the Commonwealth Games.
The Island
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will attend the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Thursday (October 14) evening as an "honoured guest," diplomatic sources told The Island here today.
The 19th edition of the CWG will be officially closed by Prince Edward, the Duke of York, on behalf of his mother Britains Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth.
The Games began with a spectacular opening ceremony at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Queens message was read out at the cceremony by her elder son Charles, the Prince of Wales.
The closing ceremony too is expected to be equally breath-taking. Watched by 65,000 spectators and a host of Indian and foreign dignitaries, the event will be telecast live to an estimated audience of about two billion people across 71 Commonwealth states.
The Government of India and the Organising Committee of the CWG have jointly invited President Rajapaksa to grace the closing ceremony. He will arrive here by a Sri Lankan airlines special flight during the day on Thursday.
On Friday, Dr Manmohan Singh has invited him for a meeting at his official residence, to be followed by lunch. He will fly back home the same afternoon.
Meanwhile, the presidents presence at the closing ceremony of CWC Delhi 2010 is likely to strengthen Sri Lankas bid to host the 21st edition of the Games in 2018 in Hambantota, his home town represented in Parliament by his son Namal.
Scotland is hosting the 20th edition of the Games in 2014 in Glasgow.
Australia is the only other country vying to host the prestigious event in the Gold Coast in the province of Queensland.
The winning bid will be announced in St Kitts, an island in the Caribbean, in Novemberr 2011.
A record number of 6,700 athletes and delegates are participating in the Games here, making this edition the largest ever in the 80-year history of the Commonwealth Games.
The Island
