Colombo, May 10 (PTI) India has reaffirmed its continued commitment towards the North and East-based Tamil minority community by extending development and economic cooperation with Sri Lanka.

Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha on Thursday met with S Sritharan, the leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), the main party of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

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This was the first engagement of the new leader of the ITAK with the Indian establishment.

“The discussions centred on the political developments in Sri Lanka as well as India's development and economic cooperation in Sri Lanka,” an Indian High Commission statement said.

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“The High Commissioner also reiterated India's continued commitment to the people of the region,” the statement added.

Jha had also met with the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, the new national organiser of the Rajapaksa clan's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). Both were briefed on the India-Sri Lanka bilateral engagements, the High Commission said.

On Thursday, the country's election commission announced that it will hold the next presidential election between September 17 and October 16.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)