Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered flowers and worshipped Monday at the historic temple of Kelaniya before he concluded his visit to Sri Lanka. 

The Japanese Prime Minister and his wife spent 40 minutes at the Kelaniya Rajamaha temple which is one of the most prominent places of worship in Sri Lanka. 

During the visit, the Japanese Prime Minister also paid tribute to former Sri Lankan President J.R Jayewardene, who was cremated at the temple grounds in 1996. Jayawardena had close ties with Japan even before he became the Sri Lankan head of state.

Jayewardene  made an impassioned plea on behalf of Japan at the 1951 Peace Treaty signing in San Francisco which officially ended World War II, and demanded war reparations.

Jayewardene declined compensation from Japan, which had carried out several aerial bombing raids in Colombo and the eastern port city of Trincomalee, a strategic staging post for allied troops.

After the San Francisco treaty, Tokyo became a strong political and economic ally of the island and is still Sri Lanka’s largest single donor of foreign aid.

In talks with President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday, the two leaders agreed to forge stronger maritime links between their countries in a move seen as countering China’s influence in the region.

“It is my intention to increase cooperation (with Sri Lanka) in the maritime area for open and safe seas,” Abe told a business forum in Colombo attended by leaders of several high profile Japanese companies.

He also urged Sri Lanka to engage the international community in addressing allegations that its troops killed at least 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final stages of the island’s separatist war that ended in May 2009. (with inputs from AFP)