The issue surrounding President Maithripala Sirisena's alleged remarks over a RAW conspiracy to kill him has been discussed widely between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe during a one-on-one meeting yesterday, Asian Mirror can reveal. 

The one-on-one meeting was held between the two leaders in addition to the delegation level talks at Hyderabad House, yesterday. Ministers Sagala Ratnayaka, Arjuna Ranatunga and Malik Samarawickrama took part in the delegation level talks, along with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, representing the Sri Lankan government. 

The two leaders had not taken up Sirisena's remarks during the delegation level talks, Asian Mirror learns. Informed government sources said the discussions mainly focused on expediting the implementation of Indo-Lanka joint projects in the country and "clearing bottlenecks".

Matters pertaining to the one-on-one discussion between Wickremesinghe and Modi remained a closely guarded secret. Both parties refrained from making any public statements about what was discussed during the talks. 

However, sources familiar with the matter said the main topic taken up by Modi and Wickremesinghe during the one-on-one discussion was the controversy over Sirisena's alleged remarks at the last Cabinet meeting. 

"I think the Indian Prime Minister got a fairly accurate picture of the proceedings at the last Cabinet meeting from the Prime Minister," a source close to Wickremesinghe said. It was also reported that a heated argument erupted between President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, at the same meeting, over India's involvement in the Colombo Port's East Terminal Development Project. 

President Sirisena's office announced that during a telephone conversation with Modi on October 17, the Sri Lankan President rejected media reports on his "sudden outburst" at the Cabinet meeting. 

However, N.Ram, the Chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited, the publisher of Hindu, and the former Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper said ‘The Hindu’ told the truth when the newspaper said that President Sirisena accused RAW of plotting to kill him.

“Another case of saying something wild & bizarre, expecting it to remain within a closed room, and then blaming the media for the furore caused. The Hindu did its job — truth-telling,” he tweeted.

"Our Sri Lanka Correspondent verified what she had learnt with multiple independent sources before publishing her report. Let them issue their lame denials, try to wriggle out of what was said — but we stand by our Correspondent’s meticulously fact-checked story,” he added.

The Sri Lankan government has not responded to 'The Hindu' publisher's denial, suggesting the newspaper's report on the proceedings at the Sri Lankan cabinet meeting, on Tuesday, is credible.