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Lankan President Sirisena calls Modi over 'murder plot'

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Update: 2018-10-18 15:28:04
Lankan President Sirisena calls Modi over 'murder plot'

Sri Lanka's president has called India's prime minister to deny a report that quoted him as saying the Indian secret service was plotting to kill him.

Maithripala Sirisena told Narendra Modi he "categorically rejected" the report, carried in The Hindu newspaper.

It said Mr Sirisena had made the statement at a cabinet meeting to the "shock" of assembled ministers.

Embarrassing headlines have dogged Mr Sirisena in recent weeks.
Last month, he raged at the country's national airline for serving him cashew nuts "which were not fit for human consumption".
Within a week he was in the headlines again after recalling the country's ambassador to Austria and his entire staff for not answering the official embassy phones.

He said he had made his staff call all six of the embassy's phones for more than four hours but to no avail.

His phone call to Mr Modi came hours after his government had officially denied the report.

India's ministry of external affairs released a statement which said Mr Sirisena had told Mr Modi that he was a close personal friend and also a "true friend of Sri Lanka", while calling the "mischievous and malafide" story "utterly baseless and false".

It added that Mr Modi had "appreciated the prompt steps" to reject the report and had reiterated India's commitment to developing stronger ties with its neighbour.

While Mr Sirisena's denial and assurances appear to have mollified its much larger and more powerful neighbour, the incident has left the Sri Lankan government embarrassed.

Source: BBC Online

BDST: 1526 HRS, OCT 18, 2018
SI

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