New Delhi: India on Monday said it was looking forward to warm, cordial and friendly relationship with the new Sri Lankan government headed by President Maithripala Sirisena and hoped that his dispensation will take along all sections of the population and ensure their welfare.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already extended an invitation to Sirisena to visit India and the newly elected President has indicated that he may come here at an early date in his tenure.
"We welcome the completion of the democratic exercise in Sri Lanka. Prime Minister was amongst the earliest to congratulate the President of Sri Lanka. Subsequently, he also sent a letter inviting the President of Sri Lanka to visit India," he said.
The Spokesperson said India was looking forward to the visit by Sirisena. "We look forward to a relation with Sri Lanka which is cordial, which is warm and friendly and we hope for peace and stability in Sri Lanka and hope that the new government in the country will take into account the views of all section of Sri Lankan population to live a life of dignity and peace," he said.
India has been pushing Sri Lanka to implement the 13th amendment in "letter and spirit" to meet aspirations of the ethnic Tamils there. In one of the biggest political shake-ups in Sri Lanka, Sirisena had trounced Mahinda Rajapaksa in the tightest-ever presidential race.
Experts felt that the change may be be good for India given the early responses of Sirisena, who has not been very enthusiastic over China's increasing influence over the island nation.
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