Sri Lanka PM Rajapaksa arrives in Tirupati

Tirupati: The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived at Tirupati airport on Monday evening on a pilgrimage.

He was accompanied by a 19-member delegation including his son Yoshita Rajapaksa, Lankan Cabinet Minister for Community Empowerment Armugam Thondaman and others.

The visiting dignitary was received at the airport by the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development P Ramachandra Reddy, Tirupati MLA B Karunakar Reddy, Government Whip C Bhaskar Reddy, MLA C Ramachandra Reddy, Chittoor District Collector Dr N Bharat Gupta, Tirupati Municipal Commissioner P S Girisha, SP A Ramesh Reddy and others.

A welcome dance programme was arranged on the runway in honour of Sri Lanka PM. From the airport, Rajapaksa and his entourage left for Tirumala for overnight stay.

They were received at Sri Padmavati Rest House by TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal, Additional EO AV Dharma Reddy and others.

They will have Suprabhata darshan of Lord Venkateswara in the early hours on Tuesday. After offering prayers, they will reach Tirupati airport and leave for Colombo.

Security was beefed up at Tirupati and Tirumala in view of Sri Lanka Prime Minister's visit. Flex boards were erected in the city displaying Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajapaksa's portraits welcoming him in both English and Sinhalese languages.