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Friday, October 15, 2010 - 04.06 GMT |
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President
participates at CWG closing
Only Head of State to be invited |
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa participated at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2010 as an Honoured Guest yesterday (14).
He was the only Head of State to be invited to the spectacular event and sat with Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Prince Edward throughout the two and half hour display of synchronised drills, colourful dances and reverberating drums at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The ceremony ended with a fascinating display of fireworks that lit the Delhi sky with a rainbow of colours.
Apart from the Indian contingent, which received a standing ovation throughout its march around the stadium, the Indian spectators as well as foreign visitors handsomely cheered the small but courageous contingent from Sri Lanka that managed to bag an elusive gold medal after seven decades at the Games.
President Rajapaksa, who arrived in the Indian capital a few hours before the ceremony, is scheduled to meet the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for bilateral negotiations during the luncheon meeting today. Minster of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris who is already in New Delhi on an official visit will join the President during the talks. The Indian Minister of External Affairs S.M. Krishna, Secretary to President Mr. Lalith Weeratunga, two Foreign Secretaries, Romesh Jayasinghe and Nirupama Rao and the two High Commissioners Prasad Kariyawasam and Ashoka Kantha are also expected to participate at the discussions.
Prof. Peiris and Mr. Krishna held a round of discussions yesterday during which they discussed the progress of the implementation of bilateral Agreements signed during the last visit of the President. Prof. Peiris is also scheduled to meet Ministers P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma and the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon. He will also deliver a lecture organized by the Observer Research Foundation this evening.
President Rajapaksa will meet the medal winners of the Sri Lankan contingent before his meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh. He is expected to return to Colombo this afternoon.
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