President Rajapaksa will embark on his first foreign tour with a visit to India on November 29 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s win as Sri Lankan President will not be relished by Tamil Nadu politicians

The latest decision of Rajapaksa to back down came as the Supreme Court ruled that he and his purported cabinet should not exercise the powers of the office they claim until he could prove his legitimacy.

Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a political crisis since October 26 when President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Rajapaksa.

The parliament has approved a no-trust vote against Prime Minister Rajapaksa, speaker of parliament Karu Jayasuriya announced in the House.

All petitions filed against Sirisena's decision will be heard on December 4, 5 and 6, the apex court ruled.

Sri Lanka PM Rajapaksa ended his five-decade-long association with the SLFP and joined the newly-formed Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP).

The nominations will be filed from November 19, 2018 to November 26, 2018. The new Parliament will hold the first meeting on January 17, 2019.

Lanka PM's son Namal indicated that Tamil prisoners may be released soon to persuade legislators to support Rajapaksa.

The TNA also condemned Sirisena's move to suspend the Sri Lankan Parliament, amid the political turmoil in the island nation, terming it as "undemocratic" and violation of parliamentary supremacy.