President Maithripala Sirisena will be in the Philippines for a state visit on January 15 to 19, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
In a statement, the DFA said Sirisena and President Rodrigo Duterte will hold bilateral talks on "areas of mutual interest, including political, economic, cultural and people-to-people engagement.
Sirisena will also visit the Asian Development Bank in Mandaluyong, and the International Rice Research Institute in Los Baños.
Sirisena's visit will be the first by a Sri Lankan president serving as both head of state and government.
Sirisena previously visited the Philippines as the then-Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Services from Oct. 28 to Nov. 2, 2008, according to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Manila.
Sri Lanka earlier said it would start hanging drug dealers, ending a near-half century moratorium on capital punishment as officials promised to "replicate the success" of the Philippines drug war. (ABS/CBN)