Chinese President Xi Jinping is to visit Sri Lanka in another two weeks time, in an official tour of South Asia, in which he will also visit India and Pakistan.

According to reports, he will first visit Pakistan and then go to India, winding up his South Asian visit in Sri Lanka.

This will be the first occasion when a Head of State of China visit Sri Lanka. Also it will be the first visit to the island nation by a sitting Head of State of a Permanent Member of UN Security Council in thirty years. The last such Head of State to visit Sri Lanka was Queen Elizabeth II of UK in 1984.

This will be Xi's first visit to the subcontinent after taking over as president.

Sri Lanka has become an important ally of China in recent years. Its significance for China has grown in the backdrop of China's plans to build a 'Maritime Silk Road' for which it has also invited India to take part.

China and Sri Lanka have been traditional friends. China supported Sri Lanka throughout the last years of the war and is continuing to support the infrastructure development projects of the island.

Meanwhile, the Xi Jinping administration has looked to improve ties with India after coming to power. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang chose India for his first official visit as Prime Minister.

A report in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper quoted Foreign Ministry officials as saying that during his visit to Pakistan, Xi would lay the foundation stone of the Lahore-Karachi motorway section and a couple of power generation projects.

Pakistan has been a traditional ally of China for decades.

During Xi's visit officials of the two countries would also give final touches to the proposed Pakistan-China railway link. The countries are finalising plans to build an Economic Corridor between China's Xinjiang and Pakistan's Gwadar Port which is being developed by Chinese firms.