COLOMBO: Sri Lanka extended an “unqualified apology” to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday over an article and uncomplimentary illustration of the leader and a regional Tamil politician published on a government website.

The Sri Lankan defence ministry said it had taken down the offending caricature of Modi and the chief minister of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, following complaints to Colombo.

It also removed an accompanying article entitled: “How meaningful are Jaya­lalithaa’s love letters to Narendra Modi?”.

The article and illustration implied that Modi was being easily controlled by Jayalalithaa.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2014