KATHMANDU: As newly-elected left-wing President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took his oath in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived in Nepal.
Dissanayake, who garnered only 3 percent of the votes in the 2019 elections, has now secured a majority.
Meanwhile, Rajapaksa, who fled Sri Lanka two years ago, arrived in Kathmandu via Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu.
In Kathmandu, Rajapaksa is being hosted by billionaire businessman Binod Chaudhary.
He is staying at the Mivanta Hotel in Jhamsikhel after landing on Monday morning.
The 75-year-old Rajapaksa and his wife arrived on Druk Air flight number KB 400.
After a two-day stay in Kathmandu, they plan to travel to Bharatpur on Wednesday.
Following three days in Chitwan, they will visit Lumbini before returning to Kathmandu next Sunday.
Two years ago, amid Sri Lanka’s financial crisis, Rajapaksa left the country on a military plane, first reaching the Maldives and then relocating to Thailand via Singapore.
As the nation approached collapse, he abdicated power following widespread public outrage.
At that time, he departed in a military aircraft with his wife and two security guards, subsequently appointing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as Acting President from Thailand.
Binod Chaudhary, the Nepali businessman hosting Rajapaksa, has investments in hotels and banks in Sri Lanka, as well as ventures across South Asia, including India and the Maldives.
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