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Ranil in India without his baggage
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who started a five-day official visit to India yesterday arrived in Madras sans his baggage, reports said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe and his entourage arrived in Madras and then headed off north to the country's information technology capital Bangalore before leaving for New Delhi.

The Prime Minister and his team were earlier scheduled to fly on the inaugural flight of a SriLankan Airline's new service to an Indian destination. But the airline had to put off the new service due to delays in certain logistical arrangements on the Indian side.

Last month, a SriLankan Airlines flight carrying Prime Minister to London was forced to make an emergency landing in Dubai due to technical problems.

Mr. Wickremesinghe was also scheduled to meet Tamil Nadu chief Minister Jayalalithaa, with whom he was expected to discuss the LTTE deproscription issue among other matters. But it was not clear whether the meeting with the chief minister is on the Premier's itinerary.

"Many issues are to be discussed in Delhi. Trade and economics and a briefing on the political situation," Mr. Wickremesinghe told reporters in Bangalore.

Wickremesinghe is due to visit the premises of Indian IT firms Wipro and Infosys on Sunday. Then he is scheduled to go to New Delhi on Monday morning for talks with his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee and other government and opposition leaders about the peace process in Sri Lanka.

In response to reporters' queries in Bangalore, the premier did not divulge the date of the talks with LTTE or elaborate on the de-proscription of the group.

Mr. Wickremesinghe is also due to discuss with Indian leaders increased economic cooperation between the two countries and concessionary aid to rebuild the embattled northern and eastern provinces.

Meanwhile, a Sri Lankan delegation visiting New Delhi as a precursor to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe's Indian visit has sought the revision of the Indo-Lanka free trade agreement.

A delegation led by Consumer Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake met Indian Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran yesterday and requested that the agreement be amended in a manner so that it could benefit both countries equally.

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