India and Sri Lanka are working to fix the dates for Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to make New Delhi his first foreign port of call this month itself.

 

The New Indian Express reported citing ‘sources’ that there had been exchange of dates for Wickremesinghe’s visit. “It could take place within the next two to three weeks,” a senior diplomat told the Express.

 

The main uncertainty in deciding the dates is over the Cabinet formation, the Express said. Wickremesinghe is now deeply engaged in negotiations with the second largest party -- the Sri Lanka Freedom Party -- over the division of portfolios in the jumbo Cabinet of the National Unity government.

 

This will be the first overseas visit of Wickremesinghe since he was appointed  Prime Minister after the surprise win of Maithripala Sirisena in the Presidential elections in January, defeating two-term president Mahinda Rajapaksa. He had never ventured out of Sri Lanka during those eight months. After the UNP-led coalition again scored a victory in last month’s parliamentary polls, Wickremesinghe returned with a stronger mandate.

 

India was quite satisfied with the victory as it put a roadblock in the political comeback of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa – and thereby allowed Colombo to take a more generous position on the reconciliation with Lankan Tamils. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first to congratulate Wickremesinghe on the election victory.

 

President Sirisena had also chosen India as his first foreign destination in February.  Sirisena Government is seen more friendly towards New Delhi as compared to Rajapaksa, whose regime was marked by the enlargement of Chinese footprint in the Indian Ocean nation. The Lankan government had put on hold several large projects granted to Chinese firms.

(With inputs from The New Indian Express)