New Delhi [India], April 19 (ANI): Vice President C P Radhakrishnan on Sunday departed for Sri Lanka on a two-day official visit, marking his first bilateral engagement with the island nation since assuming office.

In a statement on X, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, 'Hon'ble Vice President of India, Shri. C. P. Radhakrishnan @VPIndia has departed for Sri Lanka. A rich agenda involving meeting with Sri Lankan leadership and interacting with Indian community lies ahead.'

https://x.com/MEAIndia/status/2045663508940136646

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the visit includes meetings with Sri Lanka's top leadership and engagements with the Indian-origin Tamil community. The visit is part of India's broader diplomatic outreach under its Neighbourhood First policy.

The Vice President is scheduled to meet Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, and the Leader of the Opposition, along with representatives of Sri Lankan Tamil and Indian-origin Tamil political groups.

According to Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha, the Vice President will also engage directly with communities in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka's picturesque up-country tea-growing region, where a large section of the Indian-origin Tamil community resides.

There, he will visit settlements developed under India's Housing Project Phase III, which has already constructed 4,000 houses, with an additional 10,000 currently underway.

The visit is expected to see the Vice President interact with Indian-origin Tamil families, visit housing projects, and also tour the Seetha Temple in Nuwara Eliya.

Welcoming the visit, the President of the Lanka India Business Association, Santosh Menon, told ANI, 'I consider this a significant and important moment in the history of the relationship between the two countries. As you know, in the recent past, India and Sri Lanka's relationship has been at its best.'

A Kathak artist and lecturer in Colombo also said, 'I welcome Vice President CP Radhakrishnan to Sri Lanka. This visit of the Vice President, CP Radhakrishnan, will strengthen the ties between India and Sri Lanka.'

Furthermore, on VP Radhakrishnan's visit to Sri Lanka, President of the Indian CEO Forum (ICF) in Sri Lanka, Kishore Reddy, expressed happiness, saying, 'We are very happy as his visit is going to strengthen people-to-people ties as well as the business and economic relationship that India already has. With his visit, the ties between India and Sri Lanka are going to get strengthened...India has always assisted Sri Lanka in all the calamities, including the recent Cyclone Ditwah and the present crisis as well.'

The Ministry of External Affairs has described Sri Lanka as a key partner under India's Neighbourhood First policy and Vision MAHASAGAR framework, noting that the visit will further reinforce centuries-old civilisational ties and deepen the enduring people-to-people relationship between the two nations. (ANI)