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Sri Lanka President Visits India
By: iStockAnalyst Friday, July 11, 2008 5:57 AM
Text of report by Jamila Najmuddin published by Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror website on 11 July
President Mahinda Rajapakse is scheduled to visit India today for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other top Indian officials, on the upcoming SAARC summit and issues relating to the Sri Lankan conflict.
His visit comes after a top Indian delegation visited Colombo recently to discuss the political environment in the country and other issues - including the security in place for the SAARC summit.
"The Sri Lankan president's visit to India is a follow up visit to the one undertaken by an Indian delegation to Colombo recently. He is scheduled to discuss SAARC matters, among other things, Indian Foreign Ministry sources said.
An Indian delegation led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka to take part in the SAARC summit later this month.
A delegation of top Indian government officials, including National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan, flew to Colombo last month in an apparently unscheduled visit, triggering speculation over the reasons for it.
Accompanying Narayanan were Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh. Though the High Commission of India said the visit was in connection with the upcoming SAARC summit beginning end-July, Sri Lankan officials said the trio were here to continue a dialogue on issues of mutual interest.
India's embattled coalition government is in talks with other parties in a bid to win a confidence vote sparked by the withdrawal of support by left-wingers.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress-led administration lost its majority after a bloc of leftists and communists stopped backing the government because of their opposition to a nuclear deal with the United States.
Singh was to call on President Pratibha Patil later yesterday, to fix a date for the confidence vote, a government spokesman said. Meanwhile, Congress party leaders lobbied smaller parties and independent lawmakers to try to cobble together a majority.
At present Congress and its allies have 225 assured seats in India's directly elected 545-member lower house following the withdrawal of support by 59 left-wing lawmakers - but this is way short of a simple majority .
Originally published by Daily Mirror website, Colombo, in English 11 Jul 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.tracking
Story Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia
By: iStockAnalyst Friday, July 11, 2008 5:57 AM
Text of report by Jamila Najmuddin published by Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror website on 11 July
President Mahinda Rajapakse is scheduled to visit India today for talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other top Indian officials, on the upcoming SAARC summit and issues relating to the Sri Lankan conflict.
His visit comes after a top Indian delegation visited Colombo recently to discuss the political environment in the country and other issues - including the security in place for the SAARC summit.
"The Sri Lankan president's visit to India is a follow up visit to the one undertaken by an Indian delegation to Colombo recently. He is scheduled to discuss SAARC matters, among other things, Indian Foreign Ministry sources said.
An Indian delegation led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka to take part in the SAARC summit later this month.
A delegation of top Indian government officials, including National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan, flew to Colombo last month in an apparently unscheduled visit, triggering speculation over the reasons for it.
Accompanying Narayanan were Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Defence Secretary Vijay Singh. Though the High Commission of India said the visit was in connection with the upcoming SAARC summit beginning end-July, Sri Lankan officials said the trio were here to continue a dialogue on issues of mutual interest.
India's embattled coalition government is in talks with other parties in a bid to win a confidence vote sparked by the withdrawal of support by left-wingers.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress-led administration lost its majority after a bloc of leftists and communists stopped backing the government because of their opposition to a nuclear deal with the United States.
Singh was to call on President Pratibha Patil later yesterday, to fix a date for the confidence vote, a government spokesman said. Meanwhile, Congress party leaders lobbied smaller parties and independent lawmakers to try to cobble together a majority.
At present Congress and its allies have 225 assured seats in India's directly elected 545-member lower house following the withdrawal of support by 59 left-wing lawmakers - but this is way short of a simple majority .
Originally published by Daily Mirror website, Colombo, in English 11 Jul 08.
(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring South Asia. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.tracking
Story Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia
