PM Modi is the first foreign leader to visit Sri Lanka after the Easter attacks in April.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sri Lanka this morning, made an unscheduled visit to a Catholic church that was bombed during the Easter suicide attacks in April.

PM Modi's entourage took a detour to St Anthony's church on its way to President Maithripala Sirisena's office, where a red carpet military parade awaited.

"I am confident Sri Lanka will rise again. Cowardly acts of terror cannot defeat the spirit of Sri Lanka. India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka," PM Modi tweeted while posting photos of himself at the church.

I am confident Sri Lanka will rise again.



Cowardly acts of terror cannot defeat the spirit of Sri Lanka.



India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka pic.twitter.com/n8PA8pQnoJ - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 9, 2019

PM Modi is the first foreign leader to visit the island nation after the Easter attacks in April. "My heart goes out to the families of the victims and the injured," PM Modi added.

Nine suicide bombers carried out a series of devastating blasts at St Anthony's Church in Colombo, St Sebastian's Church in the western coastal town of Negombo and another church in the eastern town of Batticaloa on Easter Sunday. Three high-end hotels frequented by tourists were also attacked in what was on the deadliest violence Sri Lanka has witnessed since the devastating civil war that ended in 2009.

PM Modi pays tribute to o Easter bombing victims in St Anthony's Church.

A local Jihadi group and ISIS affiliate National Thowheeth Jama'ath, had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

PM Modi's visit is considered as a sign of India's affirmation of solidarity with Sri Lanka in the wake of the deadly Easter terror attacks in April.

Prime minister Modi visit to Colombo comes after an official visit to neighbouring Maldives, where he inaugurated a coastal radar system and military training centre.

His brief but politically significant visit to the two neighbours comes as New Delhi seeks to fend off Chinese influence on the strategic nations.