By NNN-PTI
Colombo : Asserting that it valued India’s assistance in resolving the raging Tamil ethnic conflict, Sri Lanka, which had just dumped a tattered ceasefire with the LTTE, Friday hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit the country this year.
“India is very much visible in its endeavour to help Sri Lanka (in solving the ethnic problem). They have assisted us in the past…. We value it,” Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogallagama told reporters.
On the proposed visit of Singh, the minister said that Colombo had never said specifically that it would be on the occasion of Sri Lanka’s diamond jubilee Independence Day celebrations on February 4.
He said it was likely that the Indian premier will undertake a bilateral visit sometime during the course of the year.
“It is more than 20 years since any Indian Prime Minister has paid a bilateral visit to Sri Lanka,” Bogollagama said adding he was hopeful the visit will take place this year.
Singh is expected to take part in the SAARC summit that is scheduled to be held in July or August this year in Sri Lanka.
On the proposed bilateral visit of Singh, an Indian High Commission official said the Sri Lankan government has extended an invitation to the Prime Minister and that it has been accepted in principle.
The dates will be decided at mutual convenience through the diplomatic channels, the official said.