Over 15 million voters are eligible to vote in the election being held under electoral districts-based proportional representation system.
'We should expect a cold-blooded, transactional relation that requires a lot of engagement and mutual trust to sustain,' says Constantino Xavier, Fellow, foreign policy, Brookings India.
Several homes, businesses and mosques in the hilly Kandy district have been damaged in anti-Muslim riots.
Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, made the announcement of the beginning of the flights during his address at the inauguration of the International Vesak Day, the biggest festival of Buddhists.
They said they stand alongside India in defeating terrorism.
Forty suspects, including the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers, have been arrested in connection with the attacks which shook Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's former premier Ranil Wickremesinghe has rubbished the government's claim that the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam rebels are on the verge of being brought down to its knees saying there are still 15,000 armed Tamil tigers left.
Xi Jinping is winning the war without firing a shot in Sri Lanka, observes Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
A Dubai-based Indian couple had a narrow escape in the Sri Lanka blasts.
The security forces continue their hunt for members of the local terror group National Thowheeth Jamath which was behind the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in which 253 people were killed and over 500 injured.
Mahinda Rajapaksa completed 50 years of parliamentary politics in July this year. He was elected as a Member of Parliament at the young age of 24 in 1970. He has since been elected president twice and has been appointed prime minister thrice.
The Sri Lankan president has withheld the official gazette notification necessary to formalise the decision to impose emergency.
They assured that they will 'not try to topple the government' despite a ruling coalition partner threatening to quit over the issue.
The Sri Lankan president had dissolved the parliament on Saturday and ordered fresh polls on April 2
Closely following Air Sahara, premier private carrier Jet Airways said on Friday that it was already "operationally equipped" to commence international operations and connect Indian metros with Sri Lanka.\n\n\n\n
'The path to a resolution of the ethnic conflict is likely to be complicated and controversial with the majority Sinhalese community, and will become less likely if delayed.' 'It will certainly give Rajapaksa fresh political oxygen with which to revive himself and rally the opposition.'
President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met behind closed doors for about two hours, but neither side showed signs of compromise, the sources said.
The Lankan naval personnel cut fishing nets of about 70 boats and pelted stones and bottles forcing more than 2,000 fishermen to flee and return to the shore on Thursday morning.
The blockade of Facebook and WhatsApp has been imposed from mid-night following violent incidents between the minority Muslim and majority Sinhalese communities, officials said.
President Maithripala Sirisena said Friday that over 130 suspects linked to the Islamic State terror group have been operating in the country.
``We have full faith in the prime minister,'' declared Labor Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, quoting from a a letter signed by 124 of the nation's 225 MPs.
In a bid to further boost the growing bilateral trade, Sri Lanka is seeking to upgrade its free trade agreement with India to include services and investments, officials said in Colombo.
India's stand is important against the backdrop of US FCC's decision to roll back its net neutrality rules adopted in 2015
The academy is currently under construction in the central Sri Lankan town of Kandy
Colombo's enduring interests suggest the relationship between the Sri Lanka and China will only strengthen, says Nitin Pai.
It was unhappy with the government's proposals on ways to rebuild war-hit Tamil parts of the country.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived in Colombo on Friday on a two-day trip to set the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sri Lanka next week, the first bilateral visit to the country by an Indian premier in over 25 years.
The Sri Lankan company that made the personalised stationery for the US president from paper made of elephant dung is asking people to use its products to help the country's dwindling elephant population.
The prime minister, however, made it clear that he will not discuss the president's proposal to form a government of national unity.
Indian claims to the Ram story and ownership could be challenged from more places than one, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a letter to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, the LTTE said it was committed to a negotiated settlement to the war, but demanded that progress be made before proceeding.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Unlike in the presidential polls, victory might not have been complete, at least as yet, for Mahinda Rajapaksa's electoral rivals. While his one-time aide and confidant, Maithripala Sirisena, became president without any issues after defeating him, incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who again may not command an absolute majority in the 225-member parliament, would have to count on his 'national government' concept to carry the day and the nation with him, this time round, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
"You can change friends but not neighbours," Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously said this 15 years ago.
In the endlessly entertaining and absorbing soap opera that is India-Sri Lanka relations, wait for the next episode, Aditi Phadnis reports.
