New Delhi, Feb 7 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday welcomed visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris ahead of their bilateral talks. “Very pleased to welcome FM G.L. Peiris of Sri Lanka. Looking forward to our talks this morning,” he said in a tweet. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister arrived in India on Sunday on a three-day visit. He was received in Delhi by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda. The Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Minister G. L. Peiris will hold discussions with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and other government officials. There is talk that he may call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visit comes as India has extended a US$ 400 million SAARC currency swap facility and deferred a US$ 515.2 million Asian Clearing Union settlement for two months. Another US$ 500 million LOC has also been extended for fuel purchases from India, to help the island nation tide over a severe forex crunch. His visit comes against a backdrop in which Sri Lanka is seeking a loan of 1 billion US dollars to overcome the country’s foreign currency crisis.
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