Sri Lankan PM Mahinda & President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wish PM Modi on his 70th birthday

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi turns 70, newly re-elected Sri Lankan Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday, took to Twitter to wish the PM 'success and best of health'. Similarly, his brother - Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa too wished PM Modi on the occasion. The Prime Minister was wished by most global leaders like - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nepal PM K P Oli, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, etc.

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BJP celebrates Narendra Modi's birthday

On the occasion of PM Modi's Birthday, the official Twitter account of BJP shared a small video of his entire life journey. They also announced that a special virtual exhibition is being held on Narendra Modi's birthday which will allow people to greet their 'favourite leader' from home. Moreover, BJP itself is celebrating PM Modi's birthday with its 'Seva Saptah' celebrations - organising  70 different programmes at various places and also cutting a '70 kg laddu cake' at Delhi's India Gate.

On his 70th birthday, PM Modi wishes all hardworking citizens on Vishwakarma Jayanti

Rajapaksas and PM Modi

India's relations with Sri Lanka became strained in 2014 when a Chinese submarine and warship were allowed to dock in Colombo and the 99-year lease of the Hambantota port in southern Sri Lanka to China in 2015. But when Gotabaya was elected in November 2019,  he pledged to work closely with India - even visiting India on November 29. Moreover, Prime Minister Modi was among the first to congratulate both Gotabaya and Mahinda on their electoral victories. Incidentally, PM Modi was also the first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka on June 9, 2019, after the deadly Easter blasts.

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However, China too welcomed the re-election of the Rajapaksas. According to economists, Sri Lanka which is facing severe economic constraints has China as its biggest source of foreign direct investment, followed by India. Moreover, Rajapaksas were favoured by the Chinese as experts point out Beijing's support to Sirisena's move to replace Ranil Wickremesinghe with Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime minister, which was later struck done by the Supreme Court. With the rise of yet another 'strongman-style' government in Asia, experts feel Sri Lanka will play as a 'battleground for India and China'.