NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena met Prime minister Narendra Modi here on Monday. Both the leaders are expected to have discussed various issues ranging from the fishermen issue to the problems of Sri Lankan Tamils.
63-year-old Sirisena, who had dethroned Mahinda Rajapaksa from his 10-year rule after a bitter Presidential poll, has already indicated that he wants to have a closer relationship with India and chose it for his first foreign visit.
India has been hoping that the new Lankan government will develop ties on the "foundation of genuine and effective reconciliation" creating harmony among all sections there.
India has also been pressing for implementation of 13 amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution. The amendment that followed the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord of July 1987 signed between then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan
President J R Jayewardene envisaged the devolution of powers to the provinces in the midst of the island's bitter ethnic conflict.
In the evening, Sirisena will meet President Pranab Mukherjee who will also host a banquet in the honour of his Sri Lankan counterpart.
Sirisena is leading a delegation that includes Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, Resettlement Minister D M Swaminathan, Power and Energy Minister Champika Ranawaka and Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksha.