Rajapaksa's visit here assumed significance as his tenure as Sri Lanka's president from 2005 to 2016 saw expansion of China's footprints in the Indian Ocean island nation, triggering concerns in India
After his official engagement in Delhi, Rajapaksa will travel to Varanasi, Sarnath, Bodh Gaya and Tirupati
The visit, beginning February 7, is the Rajapaksa senior's first overseas trip since his brother Gotabaya was elected President in November.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will undertake a four-day state visit to India and hold talks on a number of key areas
Economically sluggish India faces tough Chinese competition in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean
As parties in the state continue to fear for the future of the Tamils in the island nation, they have sought the Centre's help to protect them
The 16-member Cabinet included President's brothers- Mahinda Rajapaksa, 74, and Chamal Rajapaksa, 77, two Tamils and a woman
Appointing his China-friendly brother Mahinda the prime minister ahead of India visit marks a testing point for the new president's neighbourhood policy
According to reports, Murali will likley join Rajapaksa presidency as the governor of the Northern province, which has a huge majority of Sri Lankan Tamils
President Gotabhaya has accepted Prime minister Modi's invitation to visit India on November 29
Mahinda won power in 2005 and went on to become South Asia's longest-serving leader. He became the country's youngest ever parliamentarian in 1970 at the age of 24
The 70-year-old politician served as the defence secretary during his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's tenure as president from 2005 to 2014
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, a a former defence secretary, is running as the candidate for the nationalist Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party. He has made national security his key campaign platform.
The winner of its upcoming presidential elections could alter the nature of India's relationship with that country
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena said recently that the Presidential Elections is likely to be held in November or December
Rajapaksa informed the lawmakers of United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) that he has resigned from the post, MP Shehan Semasinghe told reporters
Rajapaksa was appointed as prime minister on October 26 by President Maithripala Sirisena, who sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe and plunged the nation into a constitutional crisis.
Rajapaksa's return to power ended a more than three-year-old coalition government that was formed by Sirisena and Wickremesinghe on a promise to combat corruption and financial irregularities
Reacting sharply to the development, dislodged premier Wickremesinghe termed the swearing in of Mahinda Rajapaksa as new prime minister as "illegal and unconstitutional
He hopes that US interference in Sri Lankan affairs would decrease under Trump