<p class="title">Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Thursday left for India on his first official overseas visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rajapaksa is accompanied by his Secretary P B Jayasundera and Lalith Weeratunga, Advisor to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">During the two-day visit, the Lankan president will hold talks with Prime Minister Modi to deepen strategic bilateral ties.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 70-year-old leader stormed to victory in Sri Lanka's presidential elections, the results of which came on November 17. He trounced his nearest rival Sajith Premadasa by a margin of over 13 lakh votes - 52.25 per cent of votes polled against 41.99 per cent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Modi had telephoned Rajapaksa to congratulate him on his electoral win and invited him to visit India as his first official foreign tour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The former defence secretary, who is credited with helping end the island nation's long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is the seventh Sri Lankan President.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On November 19, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Colombo on an unannounced two-day visit. He became the first foreign dignitary to call on President Rajapaksa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sri Lankan officials said Jaishankar carried a letter of personal congratulations to Rajapaksa from Prime Minister Modi and the invitation to visit India.</p>
<p class="title">Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on Thursday left for India on his first official overseas visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Rajapaksa is accompanied by his Secretary P B Jayasundera and Lalith Weeratunga, Advisor to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">During the two-day visit, the Lankan president will hold talks with Prime Minister Modi to deepen strategic bilateral ties.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 70-year-old leader stormed to victory in Sri Lanka's presidential elections, the results of which came on November 17. He trounced his nearest rival Sajith Premadasa by a margin of over 13 lakh votes - 52.25 per cent of votes polled against 41.99 per cent.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Modi had telephoned Rajapaksa to congratulate him on his electoral win and invited him to visit India as his first official foreign tour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The former defence secretary, who is credited with helping end the island nation's long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is the seventh Sri Lankan President.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On November 19, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in Colombo on an unannounced two-day visit. He became the first foreign dignitary to call on President Rajapaksa.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sri Lankan officials said Jaishankar carried a letter of personal congratulations to Rajapaksa from Prime Minister Modi and the invitation to visit India.</p>