Indian premier begins tour of Indian Ocean states
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a tour of Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka with the aim of strengthening relations with the three island states in the Indian Ocean.
Modi left the Indian capital, New Delhi, for Seychelles on Tuesday as the first leg of his five-day tour.
The Indian leader is also slated to pay official visits to Mauritius and then Sri Lanka following his talks with the authorities in Seychelles.
Sri Lanka, with a population of 20,000,000, is the most populous and biggest country among the three Indian Ocean states.
Modi’s trip comes a month after Sri Lanka’s new President Maithripala Sirisena traveled to New Delhi in an effort to mend his country’s strained ties with India.
Relations between New Delhi and Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte soured under former Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapakse, who chose to broaden relations with China.
Sirisana has announced plans to forge friendly relations with all Asian heavy-weights, including both India and China as well as Japan, on an equal footing.
During Sirisana’s stay in New Delhi, Modi said India was Sri Lanka’s “closest neighbor and friend,” adding that the fate of the two countries were interlinked. The two nations also signed a nuclear energy deal during the reconciliation visit.
Modi’s three-nation tour comes as China has, in the past years, made efforts to expand its economic cooperation with all the three countries, building sea ports, roads and power plants there.
XLS/MKA/SS
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