Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday hoped that the long-established Indo-Lanka ties will be further strengthened with an experienced diplomat taking over as the Indian envoy in Sri Lanka.
Sirisena's comments came as the new Indian High Commissioner to Colombo, Taranjith Singh Sandhu, presented his credentials to him.
High Commissioner Sandu is a career diplomat with nearly thirty years of experience.
Prior to his current assignment, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington DC. He has earlier served in Indian Missions in Moscow, Kiev, Washington DC, Colombo, New York and Frankfurt, apart from discharging various responsibilities in the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
The President said he was aware that Sandhu knows Sri Lanka very well as he served in this country earlier and expressed confidence that he would serve to further strengthen long-established Indo Sri Lanka relations during his tenure as High Commissioner.
During his earlier assignment in Colombo from December 2000 to September 2004, High Commissioner Sandhu headed the Political Wing of the Mission.
Speaking on the occasion, Sirisena said his government's priority was to achieve reconciliation with the minority Tamil community and economic prosperity with close foreign relations.
