Ajit Doval calls on Lanka PM, talks ties with defence secy

Sri Lanka PM Mahinda Rajapaksa met with NSA Ajit Doval on Friday. (Source: Twitter/@PresRajapaksa)

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday sought India’s continued assistance to boost bilateral ties as he met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who also held talks with the country’s Defence Secretary.

Doval is visiting Colombo for the fourth national security advisor trilateral meeting on maritime security cooperation, which will take place on Saturday. Apart from Sri Lanka and India, the Maldives will be participating in the meeting. The last such meeting was held in New Delhi in 2014.

Rajapaksa asked Doval for continued assistance to Sri Lanka in its bilateral help, the Sri Lankan PM’s office said. He was particularly keen on the need for India to extend its housing assistance to the country’s south, it said. India has previously built houses in the north and eastern regions ravaged by the nearly three-decade-long military conflict, and in the central tea plantation areas for Tamils of Indian origin.

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