Rajapaksa cuts short Nepal visit, to rush back to Colombo

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday cut short his visit to Nepal in the wake of the terror attack on his country's cricketers in Pakistan, after inking two agreements with the country.

Rajapaksa cuts short Nepal visit, to rush back to Colombo

Rajapaksa, who was earlier scheduled to leave the Himalayan nation tomorrow, cancelled his visit to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and will fly back to Colombo this evening.

Rajapaksa is cutting short his visit and leaving Kathmandu this evening because of the attack in Lahore, in which six players and a coach of the team were injured, Sri Lankan Embassy sources said.

He earlier instructed Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama to immediately rush to Pakistan to oversee the arrangements to bring the cricketers back to Colombo.

Prime Minister Prachanda also expressed regret at the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan players in Lahore.

Meanwhile, Rajapaksa and Prachanda inked two agreements, including the Nepal-Sri Lanka Air Service pact paving way to commence direct air service between the two countries.

They also signed a Joint Commission Agreement to promote cooperation between the two countries in areas of agriculture, education and culture, sources at the Foreign Ministry said.

Rajapaksa also met Vice President Parmananda Jha and will visit former Premier Girija Prasad Koirala before leaving for Colombo.

Rajapaksa, who is also the current SAARC chair also visited the SAARC Secretariat here and met Secretary General Sheel Kanta Sharma. The visiting President also went to Anandakuti Vihar, a Buddhist monastery near Swoyambhunath Temple at the outskirts of Kathmandu.

He also attended a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Prachanda in his honour this afternoon. Sri Lankan president's visit was marked by unprecedented security arrangements in view of a potential LTTE threat.

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