President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to visit India next month on his first official tour since assuming office as President, it is learnt.

A highly-placed Government source told The Sunday Morning that the President was expected to visit India between 20 and 30 July.

It is also learnt that 21 July has been tentatively set for the meeting between Wickremesinghe and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Wickremesinghe is also expected to hold discussions with senior ministers of the Indian Government.

Although it is the usual practice of most Sri Lankan presidents to make their first official visit to India after assuming office, Wickremesinghe could not make the visit until India officially extended an invitation to him. 

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar extended the invitation to Wickremesinghe to visit India. However, dates for the visit were delayed until an appointment was secured with the Indian Premier.

Interestingly, India had agreed to dates for Wickremesinghe’s Indian visit after he had received an invitation from China to attend the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Conference in China this October.