Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse will arrive in New Delhi Tuesday on a four-day state visit to India amid fears of a breakup of the fragile peace process in the island nation.
The visit, at the invitation of President A P J Abdul Kalam, is the first tour abroad by Rajapakse after assuming office as the president of Sri Lanka.
"The decision by President Rajapakse to make India his first overseas visit is evidence of the importance accorded to bilateral relations by the government and peoples of both countries," an external affairs ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman said the official part of the visit will begin on December 28 with a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Rajapakse will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the afternoon. The Prime Minister will host a lunch for him.
This will be followed by calls on by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Shivraj Patil and Commerce Minister Kamal Nath.
President A P J Abdul Kalam will host a banquet in his honour the same evening.
On December 29, Minister for Roads and Highways and Shipping T R Baalu and former external affairs minister Natwar Singh will call on the visiting dignitary.
The next day, the Sri Lankan president will leave for Kochi and visit Guruvayoor temple.
He will also visit Chennai and meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa before leaving for Colombo.
Sources said during the meetings between the Sri Lankan president and Indian leaders, the fragile peace process in the island nation will dominate all other issues. Trade will be another important issue that will be taken up.
President Rajapakse will also meet Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and will interact with other senior politicians and a cross-section of Indian leaders in various fields.
"The whole spectrum of bilateral relations will be reviewed during the visit and ways of strengthening relations further will be discussed," the spokesman added.
Describing the India-Sri Lanka relations as "excellent", the spokesman said, "There is very good understanding and interaction at the political level. Trade and investment is expanding rapidly.
The institutional framework of the relationship has been strengthened further, infrastructural linkages are being augmented and people-to-people contacts have intensified."
The visit comes in the wake of growing disillusionment in the island nation about the Norwegian-brokered peace process with the president himself having expressed displeasure.
However, the Norwegians were later asked to continue with the peace mediation.
