Sushma Swaraj leaves for Colombo to attend Indian Ocean Conference

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday left for Colombo to attend two-day Indian Ocean Conference. Swaraj will address the inaugural session of the conference. During the visit, Swaraj will be calling on the President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, a statement from the External Affairs Minis

"She will also have a separate meeting with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister. Ahead of her visit,"We will be very pleased to have the presence of the Indian foreign minister," Sri Lankan foreign Minister Thilak Marapona said. The two-day conference is being jointly organised by the India Foundation, the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore, and the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Colombo.

Sri Lanka is expected to discuss strategies of combating drug smuggling in the two-day conference "The theme of this year's conference is 'Peace, Progress and Prosperity' and will involve participants from more than 35 countries. There will be ministerial representation from Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Vietnam and the conference will also be attended by senior officials from the USA, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Germany, Kenya, South Korea and Afghanistan among others, India Foundation had said in a statement.