President Moon Jae-in will hold his first summit meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka on Wednesday, continuing his plans for strengthening ties with South Asian countries.

Sirisena, who began his three-day state visit on Tuesday, is the third foreign leader to come to Seoul on a state visit since Moon took office in May. 

Sirisena will be welcomed in an official ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae ahead of the summit meeting, which will be followed by the signing of bilateral agreements reached in the summit. The Sri Lankan president will also attend a gala dinner hosted by Moon later in the day.

“The visit follows President Moon’s Southeast Asian tour, and will be an opportunity to expand out diplomatic horizons to Southwest Asia and contribute to realizing the administration’s New Southern Policy,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a briefing on Nov. 22.

The Moon administration’s New Southern Policy aims to strengthen ties with Asian nations other than China and Japan, to boost economic and political ties with the countries of the region.

The policy was revealed during Moon’s trip to Southeast Asia earlier this month, and goes in tandem with his New Northern Policy -- a similar plan concerning Russia and other countries to the north of the Korean Peninsula.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)