Gotabaya  

 Sri Lanka foreign secretary Jayanath Colombage has confessed that his country’s decision to lease Hambantota port to China for 99 years was a mistake

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced financial assistance of $450 million to Sri Lanka including $50 million for counterterrorism after holding talks with the visiting Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Hello and welcome to this episode of The Handshake, my name is Amal Chowdhury and today we will be talking about how India and Sri Lanka need a fresh start in diplomacy.
 

Earlier, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a former defence secretary and brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, based his campaign on providing strong leadership on national security issues.

New Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse is seen to be closer to China, which lends heavily to Sri Lanka. India would tread cautiously as China would look to expand its naval presence in the Indian Ocean while India hates to concede space in the region. 

Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sri Lanka's former defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa on winning the 2019 Presidential elections