Rajapaksa regrets article

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed regret over an objectionable article on Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa posted on the defence ministry website, which triggered a furore in India. Sri Lankan President said that, he regrets for what has happened. The article titled `How meaningful are Jayalalithaa's love letters to Narendra Modi?' had appeared on the Lankan defence ministry's website, along with a graphical portrayal of PM Modi and Jayalalithaa. The Ministry later removed the article and offered an unqualified apology to India.

Major General Kapila Hendavitharana, speaking on behalf of the defence ministry, said the article had been posted on the website without permission. Hours after the article was published, it created a furore in India, with PMK and MDMK seeking severing of relations with the island nation.

Jayalalithaa urged Modi to seek an unconditional apology from Lanka. The external affairs ministry on Monday summoned Lankan high commissioner Sudharshan Seneviratne in Delhi and lodged a protest. Seneviratne was conveyed the “anger and concerns “among parliamentarians in strongest words by the joint secretary in-charge of the Sri Lanka division in the MEA.