Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his meetings with Sri Lanka’s top leadership, is likely to take up the growing influence of China in the island, matters pertaining to devolution of powers to the country’s war-torn North and East and the fisheries conflict that has proved a major strain on Indo-Lanka ties the past few years, ‘The Hindu’ said citing ‘sources.’

Modi’s is the fourth high-level visit between the countries, since the new dispensation in Colombo took charge after the country’s January presidential polls that saw President Maithripala Sirisena defeat his one-time comrade and former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa. Among the agreements to be signed during Modi's visit are Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) pertaining to customs cooperation, youth development, visa exemptions for diplomatic passport holders and the construction of an auditorium named after Rabindranath Tagore in the southern Sinhala-majority Matara district.

He will address a special sitting in Parliament on Friday. In addition to meeting top political leaders, Modi will also address the local business community in Colombo. He will also on Saturday visit the ancient city of Anuradhapura.

In the Tamil-majority Northern Province, Prime Minister Modi will lay the foundation stone for a Jaffna-based cultural centre being built with Indian assistance, in addition to flagging off the final leg of the island’s restored railway line in the north, built by IRCON.
(With inputs from The Hindu)