In a personal gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit to Sri Lanka on Saturday with a meeting with the former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The meeting was requested on behalf of Modi by Indian officials, ‘The Hindu' reported.

This meeting took place just days after Rajapaksa accused RAW of conspiring to organise the opposition against him.

The one-on-one meeting at India House in Colombo lasted about 15 minutes. Officials told ‘The Hindu’ that Modi wanted to meet Rajapaksa “as a matter of courtesy”, given that “they had a personal equation after three meetings last year.”

However, officials declined to comment on the meeting, ‘The Hindu’ report said. None of the Prime Minister’s aides were present during the meeting.

Rajapaksa had refused to meet Indians after his defeat, avoiding even a highly placed team from the BJP, a report by 'The New Indian Express' pointed out.
(With inputs from The Hindu and The New Indian Express)