West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is on a 12-day tour of Spain and United Arab Emirates, met Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe at Dubai airport on Wednesday and invited him to the Bengal Global Business Summit, scheduled to be held in Kolkata later this year. In a post on X, Mamata said she held discussions with "deep implications" with Wickremesinghe.
"His Excellency The President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe saw me at the Dubai International Airport Lounge and called me to join for some discussion. I have been humbled by his greetings and invited him to the Bengal Global Business Summit 2023 in Kolkata. The President of Sri Lanka extended cordial invitation to me to visit Sri Lanka. It was a pleasant interaction with deep implications," the Bengal CM said.
Wickremesinghe also gifted a painting to Mamata Banerjee at the airport.
The meeting comes days after Wickremesinghe made his first visit to India after becoming the President. During the visit, Wickremesinghe met President Droupadi Murmu and held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who asked the Lankan Preisdent to make sure that the Tamil minority gets a "life of respect and dignity".
Mamata Banerjee On 12-Day Visit To UAE, Spain
The TMC supremo left for Dubai on Tuesday after her flight was delayed by three hours due to some technical glitch, PTI reported quoting sources. She is on a visit to UAE and Spain's Madrid to seek investments for the state.
At the airport, Mamata told reporters that this would be her first foreign visit in five years as the Centre "had not given her necessary permission earlier", PTI reported.
"It's been five years since we went abroad. Spain was the theme country of this year's International Kolkata Book Fair. They are good in manufacturing and other industries. We will be participating in business conferences there," Banerjee told reporters at the airport.
"They (foreign delegates) come here again and again. But we don't go. That's why we are going now. A business conference is also scheduled in Dubai," the Bengal CM further said.
Mamata will be joined by former Indian cricket team captain and ex-BCCI president Sourav Ganguly in Madrid.
"We will stay in Madrid for three days, during which we will attend a business summit and meet non-resident Bengalis. From there, we will take a train to Barcelona, where we will participate in a two-day meeting for the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS)," Banerjee had told reporters on Tuesday.