US diplomat John Kerry left early Friday (01) on a landmark trip to Sri Lanka, the first such visit in a decade to Sri Lanka as it returns to the diplomatic fold. 

Kerry is due to arrive around dawn Saturday (02) in Colombo, becoming the first US secretary of state to set foot in the South Asian nation since Colin Powell, who visited in 2005 in the wake of the devastating Asian tsunami. 

Kerry will meet with President Maithripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera.

He will also meet leaders who represent Tamil community.

From Sri Lanka, Kerry is due to travel to Nairobi and then on to Djibouti before returning to Washington around May 8.