Sri Lanka invites Narendra Modi for visit

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued an invitation to Indian prime minister-designate Narendra Modi to visit Sri Lanka after his party, the BJP, won the Indian general elections.

Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said on Friday that the president issued the invitation to Modi after congratulating him on the election victory.

There have been fears on the policy Modi will puruse with regard to Sri Lanka with Tamil politicians such as pro-Tamil Tiger rebel Vaiko by his side, Xinhua reported.

During the election campaign, Vaiko said that a Modi-led government at the centre would not repeat the blunders of the Congress-led government on the Sri Lankan Tamils and fishermen issues.

Modi himself said that with Tamils living all over the world, including in Malayasia, Sri Lanka and Fiji, it should be a priority of the Indian government to take care of their well-being and he promised to do so if a BJP-led government assumed power after the elections.

Playing the emotive issue of recurring attacks on fishermen, Modi had charged that the former government in India lacked the courage to protect the fishermen of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, who were being “harassed” by Sri Lanka and Pakistan.