Sri Lankan Prime Minister on three-day visit to Singapore

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will visit Singapore for the first time since becoming Prime Minister in January 2015. PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE - Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will arrive in Singapore on Sunday (July 17) for a three-day visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

It will be Mr Wickremesinghe's first official visit to Singapore since he became Sri Lanka's prime minister in January 2015.

While here, Mr Wickremesinghe and PM Lee will witness the signing of several bilateral agreements, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Mr Wickremesinghe will give a keynote address on Monday (July 18) morning at the third South Asia Diaspora Convention, organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies.

Policymakers, business leaders and academics will gather to discuss economic and geopolitical challenges affecting South Asia and the world at the conference.

Later in the morning, Mr Wickremesinghe and wife, Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe, will receive an official welcome at the Istana, before calling on President Tony Tan Keng Yam and meeting PM Lee.

PM Lee will host him to lunch after their meeting.

On Tuesday (July19), Mr Wickremesinghe will attend a lunchtime dialogue with a group of Singapore business leaders at an event hosted by trade agency IE Singapore.

Places that Mr Wickremesinghe is scheduled to visit include the National Gallery, Singapore River waterfront, PSA and the Civil Service College, as part of his interest in heritage and conservation, ports and capacity building.

His delegation will include Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera and Deputy Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana Sarathi Dushmantha Mithrapala.

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