Sri Lanka president keen to beef up ties with Pakistan

Pak-Sri-Lanka

ISLAMABAD/ COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday said his country was keen to broaden relations with Pakistan.

He was talking to Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in Colombo on Tuesday.

The foreign secretary highlighted the immense goodwill for Sri Lanka in Pakistan, which continues to encourage both the countries to further strengthen and deepen bilateral relations.

She also expressed Pakistan’s desire to expand trade relations between the two countries.

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The Sri Lankan president said people of Sri Lanka sphere mutual feelings for Pakistan and he looks forward to deepen and broaden the interaction with Pakistan.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka have agreed to further consolidate bilateral relations in all areas of mutual importance.

The agreement was reached during fifth Round of Foreign Secretaries Level Bilateral Political Consultations between the two countries in Colombo Tuesday.

Pakistan delegation was headed by the Tehmina Janjua while the Sri Lankan side was led by their Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam.

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Cooperation in trade, investment, defence, education, science and technology, culture, tourism, capacity building, immigration issues and sports were discussed in detail.

They also agreed that Joint Working Groups would oversee the implementation of the agreements and Memorandum of Understandings signed between the two countries. Both sides concurred to expand the ambit of Pakistan Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement.

The two foreign secretaries also reviewed cooperation at international and regional fora and agreed to jointly work to make South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation a vibrant regional organization.

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