PM Modi pays tribute to victims at Colombo’s St Anthony’s Church

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Sri Lanka on second leg of his maiden trip abroad after taking over the reins of government for second time. He was received at the airport by Sri Lankan Prime minister Ranil Wickremsinghe and other senior officials of the government.

Prime Minister went directly to St. Anthony church which was the target of Easter Sunday attacks and offered his condolences to the victims. He was given ceremonial guard of honour and reception at Presidential secretariat followed by a bilateral meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena. Cabinet ministers of the government and provincial governors attended a luncheon meeting organized in honour of PM Modi.

Several issues including unity in efforts for eradicating terrorism, maritime security in the Indian ocean region and cooperation in economic development came up for discussions during the meeting. Leader of opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa and Tamil leader R A Sampanthan are scheduled to call on Prime Minister during his brief stay.

He is the first head of government to visit Sri Lanka after Easter which killed 258 people including 45 foreigners.