Namal Rajapaksa, the son of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, says relationships between Sri Lanka, India and China were once "misinterpreted", he praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "progressive approach" towards foreign policy.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the Sri Lankan government from 2005 and 2015, was believed to favour China during his time which had raised concerns over New Delhi's ties with Colombo.
Namal Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan MP told NDTV, "The relationship between Sri Lanka and India and China was misinterpreted and miscommunicated to the leaders".
"Prime Minister Modi has a more progressive approach and a very open minded approach towards foreign policy and he gives priority for the region. He has shown interest in establishing foreign relations with regional countries and across the border, which we believe," he added.
Sri Lanka's new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has accepted PM Modi’s invitation to visit India next week.
Mr Rajapaksa thanked PM Modi for accepting Sri Lanka’s mandate, he said, "A stable government in Sri Lanka is important to India as well".
Rajapaksa is credited for ending Sri Lanka’s long-standing civil war against the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) during his tenure as the defence secretary. He was elected as the president last week, his campaign promises were to end religious extremism in the Buddhist-majority country and national security.
When asked to comment on the misgivings of Tamil Nadu politicians about the Lankan elections, the newly elected President said that some politicians use the Sri Lankan Tamil issue for their "own personal gains".
"What have they done for Sri Lankan Tamils? There are many serious issues like the fishing issue but what have these politicians done to uplift the livelihood of Sri Lankan Tamils?", he told NDTV.
"We have to understand one thing - Sri Lanka went through a bad phase, went through a brutal war for the last 30 years. We were fighting against the LTTE. Unfortunately this fight against the Sri Lankans and the LTTE was portrayed by the LTTE as a fight between the Singhalese and the Tamil. It was totally wrong," he added.