Lanka president to visit India in first foreign trip

COLOMBO, Dec 10 (AFP): Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will travel to India on Sunday for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first overseas visit as head of state, the government said Tuesday.

Leaders of the island nation typically make their first visit to regional powerhouse India, which is fiercely competing with China for influence in the Indian Ocean.

Dissanayake will spend three days in India meeting with Modi and several other officials, information minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters.

Leftist Dissanayake came to power in September on a pledge to fight corruption and tightened his grip on power after his party won a landslide in snap parliamentary polls last month. New Delhi has been concerned about Beijing's growing toehold in Sri Lanka.