President Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the seven agreements signed by India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday (9 June) would help to strengthen the bilateral ties, both cultural and economic between the two countries.
Speaking to journalists after arriving at the Annandale helipad on his two-day visit to Shimla on Thursday , President Rajapaksa said that “This is good for both the countries,” referring to the seven agreements, and the joint declaration he issued with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In the morning the President Rajapaksa, along with First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, reached the Chandigarh airport, from where they came down to the hill station by an Indian Air Force helicopter, Himachal Health Minister Rajiv Bindal, who escorted the President, said.
The President Rajapaksa and his convoy reached Wildflower Hall, a heritage hotel owned by the Oberoi group, on the outskirts of the town". The Wild Flower Hall is a private heritage resort, near Kufri, which is at the height of 8350 feet.
The President Rajapaksa would attend a reception to be hosted by Himachal Pradesh Governor Urmila Singh at the Raj Bhavan, also known as Barnes Court, another heritage site and where the Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan was inked after the 1971 war.
The President chose to stay back at the hotel and went out for a bit of trekking in the nearby pine and cedar woods, whereas his family members went for a stroll on the famous Mall Road.
The President would return to New Delhi on Friday afternoon.
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