By Walter Jayawardhana

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was given a warm and rousing welcome when he visited the country for the second time within the last few months.

His earlier trip had to be disrupted when terrorists attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore Pakistan when he was touring the country last time.

Declaring open the Sri Lanka Maha Vihara which had been built at Lumbini, Nepal by Sri Lanka at the BuddhaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s birth place becomes the main purpose of his trip this time, a task he could not fulfill due to the disruption of trip last time.

After the President and his entourage carrying Sri Lanka jet touched down at Thribhuvan International Airport at 1.30 Thursday the President and his wife Madam Shiranthi Rajapaksa and party were accorded a welcome by Sujatha Koirala , Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal and Dr. Minendra Rijal Parliamentary and Cultural Affairs Minister on behalf of the Nepalese government.

Welcoming ceremony included a military Guard of Honour to the President.

Streets were decked with the colourful Sri Lankan and triangular Nepalese flags. Thousands thronged the streets of Kathmandu to catch a glimpse of the visiting leader.

Apart from opening the Sri Lanka temple at Lumbini the President is scheduled to hold talks with President Dr. Ram Baran Yadev and Prime Minister and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar and other leading political figures in the country. During the first day the President met former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Chairman Unified Communist Party (Maoist)and members of the Sri lankan community living in Nepal.

The delegation comprises First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Ministers Nimal Siripala De Silva, Rohitha Bogollagama, Tissa Karaliyadde and Mervyn Silva, PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Additional Secretary Gamini Senerath and PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s International Affairs Coordinating Secretary Sajin Vaas Gunawardena.