Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Jaffna and laid the foundation stone for the Jaffna Cultural Center a short while ago.

He became the first Indian Prime Minister to set foot in this war ravaged town in Sri Lanka’s Tamil-majority Northern Province.

While in Jaffna, Modi met with Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran at the Jaffna Public Library.

Modi flew to Jaffna by an IAF chopper after brief visits to the holy town of Anuradhapura where he offered prayers at the sacred Mahabodhi tree and Talaimannar where he flagged off a train service.

He is only the second foreign leader to visit the battle-scarred region. British Prime Minister David Cameron had visited Jaffna during a Commonwealth summit in Colombo in November 2013.

The Prime Minister’s brief visit is seen as hugely symbolic, particularly after he called on the majority— Sinhalese government to fully implement the 13th amendment, a 1987 constitutional provision on greater autonomy and go beyond it in the reconciliation process.
(With inputs from PTI)