EAM S Jaishankar to visit Sri Lanka on Thursday

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will travel to Sri Lanka on Thursday in his first bilateral visit abroad in his second consecutive term in office.

The visit reaffirms India's 'Neighbourhood First Policy' and underlines New Delhi's continued commitment to Sri Lanka as its "closest" maritime neighbour and time tested friend, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The MEA said Jaishankar's visit will add momentum to connectivity projects and other mutually beneficial cooperation across sectors between the two countries.

Jaishankar was last week part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's delegation at the G7 Outreach summit in Italy's Apulia region.

The trip to Sri Lanka will be Jaishankar's standalone bilateral visit after he assumed charge as the external affairs minister for the second term on June 11.

The MEA said the external affairs minister will have meetings with the Sri Lankan leadership on wide-ranging issues.

"This will be the external affairs minister's first bilateral visit after the formation of new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi," it said.

"Reaffirming India's Neighbourhood First Policy, the visit underlines India's continued commitment to Sri Lanka as its closest maritime neighbour and time tested friend," the MEA said in a statement.

"The visit will add momentum to connectivity projects and other mutually beneficial cooperation across sectors," it said.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was among seven top leaders from India's neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region who attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi and the Union council of ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 9.