Sri Lanka's faltering peace efforts and the deteriorating security situation came up for discussion on Tuesday when External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to invite him to the SAARC summit to be held in New Delhi in April.

Mukherjee, who is on a one-day visit to the island nation, held talks with Rajapakse after handing him the invitation, officials said.

Details of the talks were not immediately known but officials said they discussed Sri Lanka's faltering peace efforts and the deteriorating security situation.

The visiting Indian minister also met his Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera.

"The discussions betweeen the two foreign ministers got underway in the afternoon and thereafter there will be a banquet in honour of the visiting minister hosted by the President," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Mukherjee leaves Wednesday morning for Maldives to invite the Maldivian leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Officials said they will make use of the visit to brief India on the latest development in the island's worsening security situation in the light of a new bombing campaign by Tiger rebels over the weekend.

India has expressed its serious concern over the plight of minority Tamil civilians caught in the crossfire between troops and Tamil Tigers in the island's north-east.