68th Anniversary of Independence Celebrated in Canberra

February 5, 2016

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High Commissioner Skandakumar holds discussions with the PM, Foreign Minister and Attorney General of Fiji

February 5, 2016

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner S. Skandakumar, who was in Fiji from 28th to 30th January 2016 to present credentials, met Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola and Attorney General and Minister of Finance Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum during his visit.

Prime Minister Bainimarama appreciated the support and cooperation extended by the Sri Lankan judiciary, by contributing their professional expertise during a difficult and challenging period in the country’s recent history. The Fijian judiciary is largely composed of Sri Lankan judges and magistrates. The Fijian Prime Minister also commended the significant number of Sri Lankan professionals who hold high positions in the Government and corporate sector in Fiji. These sentiments were reiterated by the Foreign Minister and the Attorney General during their discussions with the High Commissioner.

Foreign Minister Kubuabola recalled his meetings with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera in New York and Malta, and also commended the contribution to Fiji by both the former and present Honorary Consuls for Sri Lanka. The Foreign Minister also briefed on the recent developments in Fiji where a new Constitution was introduced in 2013 bringing equality to all citizens as Fijians.

High Commissioner Skandakumar thanked Fiji for their assistance to Sri Lanka in rugby, and suggested reciprocal assistance from Sri Lanka to develop cricket in Fiji. Tourism infrastructure is another area mentioned in which the Sri Lankan private sector in particular would be interested. The High Commissioner proposed the early conclusion of an agreement on bilateral consultations between the two Foreign Ministries which would provide a regular platform to discuss all aspects of the bilateral relationship. The Fijian Foreign Minister welcomed the idea while suggesting that a development cooperation agreement could provide a framework to pursue cooperation in specific areas. He expressed the desire to work towards strengthening the bilateral relationship and invited the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister to visit Fiji.

Attorney General Sayed-Khaiyum, who also holds the portfolios of Finance, Public Enterprises, Public Service and Communications, specifically expressed his appreciation to members of the Sri Lankan judiciary who carried out a difficult task on behalf of Fiji, during a challenging time. The Attorney General briefed on political developments his country had undergone in the recent past. He said the Fijian people wanted development and justice across ethnic lines and that is what the present Government is trying to achieve. The Attorney General added that Fiji being a hub in the Pacific region, there are opportunities for Sri Lankan companies in the hotel industry, housing and medical fields, as well as the services sector.

High Commissioner Skandakumar interacted with the Sri Lankan expatriates at a function organised by the Hony Consul, which was attended by the Chief Justice of Fiji as the Guest of Honour. The High Commissioner was accompanied by Deputy High Commissioner throughout the visit.

Sri Lanka High Commissioner
Canberra
3rd February 2016

High Commissioner Skandakumar presents credentials in Fiji

February 1, 2016

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INDO-LANKA RELATIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: A TRYST WITH OPPORTUNITY ~ Address by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera at the Sri Lanka – India Society

February 1, 2016

INDO-LANKA RELATIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: A TRYST WITH OPPORTUNITY
Address by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, MP
at the Sri Lanka-India Society
Colombo, 31 January 2016

Thank you very much, Mr. President, for inviting me to give this talk at a very propitious time for Indo-Lanka relations. In fact, the last year has been an excellent year for further cementing our friendship, which my predecessor said had already reached a state irreversible excellence. We had the opportunity of welcoming the Prime Minister of India to Sri Lanka, while the President and Prime Minister were accorded a warm welcome in New Delhi. My friend and counterpart, the Hon. Sushma Swaraj, will be making her third visit in a year and we welcomed the Indian Foreign Secretary a fortnight ago.

As India marches on to become a super-power of the 21st Century, Sri Lanka too has embarked on a Tryst with Opportunity that will undoubtedly be a catalyst for Sri Lanka’s resurgence and development.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this, I am sure, is no accident. The force of destiny has been such that from the most ancient of times, Sri Lanka’s fate has been intertwined with her sister India’s. Our island home, which sits at the centre of the Indian Ocean, has been nourished and fed from the haziest moments of history not from South East Asia, West Asia or Africa but from her closest neighbour India. With the exception perhaps of the Veddhas, the blood that runs in all our veins had its origins in the Land of the Ganges – whether from the Coromandel or Malabar coasts or from what was once known as the Kalinga country.

In fact, as Professor K.M. de Silva points out, the Indian origins of many Sri Lankans, particularly the low-country Sinhalese, are relatively recent, with waves of immigration continuing well into the 18th Century. Even the royal families of Sri Lanka were no exceptio. For as you know, many kings’ consorts were Indian princesses.

When the Sinhala dynasties came to an end, our ancestors did not hesitate to import their kings from India. Prince Kannasamy, crowned King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha – the last King of Kandy – and generations of Kandyan kings before him were of South Indian Nayakar descent, as were many scions of the Kandyan aristocracy. The language of the Kandyan Court was also Tamil, so much so that when the Kandyan Convention of 1815 was signed, all but one of the eleven chieftain’s signatory to the Convention signed their names in beautiful polyglot of Tamil, Sinhala and Malayalee characters. In fact, the flag which has become a fashion among the neo-fascist thugs was the flag of the very same Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Nayakar descent.

Surveying the few thousands of years of our history, one of our most important turning points was the introduction of Buddhist civilization to Sri Lanka from India. The Mauryan ships that came with Mahinda and Sangamitta did not only bring monks and nuns, but also nobles and artisans, including gold-smiths, potters and weavers.

The Buddhist religion and Ashokan experts resulted in a far-reaching revolution in the beliefs, manners, customs and character of people. A fundamental change took place not only in the social fabric of Lanka, but from that point onwards our island made immense progress in literature, art and culture that has manifested itself in every aspect of day-to-day Sri Lankan life. These ties grew stronger with every passing century, as monks, scholars and artisans travelled to and fro between the countries right continuing right up to modern times. The dynamic combination of these cultures lead to a veritable outburst of creativity and cultural activity. This vibrant and ever evolving cultural landscape was further enriched by the arrival of the Marakalla seafarers from Arabia and India.

It is particularly fitting I think, that in a small way Sri Lanka has been able to repay the historic debt she owed India. Arumuka Navalar, the vanguard Sri Lankan Tamil educationist also helped create the modern Tamil publishing industry. While C.W. Thamotharampillai, another Sri Lankan, who was the first graduate of the University of Madras, played an instrumental role in the revival of the Tamil language editing and publishing key works of classical Tamil poetry and grammar.

But one touching story that I would like to share with you is from Pundit Nehru’s autobiography, where he describes a holiday to what was then Ceylon,

“At Anuradhapura, I liked greatly an old seated statue of the Buddha. A year later, when I was in Dehra Dun Gaol, a friend in Ceylon, sent me a picture of this statue, and I kept it on my little table in my cell. It became a precious companion for me, and the strong, calm features of Buddha’s statue soothed me and gave me strength and helped me overcome many periods of depression.”

It is thus that we South Asians would like to see ourselves: as strong, calm, reflective and compassionate, and as source of solace to the oppressed and unjustly treated- just as the image of the Samadhi Buddha statue at Anuradhapura was to Pandit Nehru at his hour of need.

When speaking of Nehru it would be amiss not to touch on how our respective countries’ political consciousness too has been enriched by the other. We collectively struggled against the imperial yoke of colonialism – India’s leaders and Sri Lanka’s leader both spent their share of time in jail. The Ceylon National Congress and the Jaffna Youth Congress maintained very close ties with the Indian National Congress and their delegates would attend each other’s conferences – Gandhi and Nehru would visit Ceylon and in turn our political leaders would visit India.

India was also refuge for many of our Left leaders, including N.M. Perera, Colvin de Silva, Philip Gunawardene and Leslie Gunawardene, who were on the run from colonial persecution. There they worked in the collective freedom struggle for India and Ceylon as part of the Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma which was formed out of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and two Indian communist parties.

The indivisible unity of our destinies is also demonstrated by the fact that we won our freedom at the same point in history and by the close ties and personal links that have been maintained between our countries and our leaders since.

So it is strange that that the very people who should be most grateful to India – which so generously gave the majority of this country their great religion, Buddhism; those misguided Sinhalese Buddhists of this country who wear their ethnicity and religion on their sleeve and who claim blood relationship to a lion as related in the mythical history of the Sinhala people, the Mahavamsa, are the one’s who fear India the most.

It is true that most races have founding myths recounting the origins of their races, but these myths are designed to inspire and are not meant to be taken literally. Yet the neo-fascists of today’s political climate are claiming blood relationship to an Indian lion (there are and were no lions in Sri Lanka). But the danger of taking the Mahavamsa literally is then we must believe that the Sinhala race is a race created through bestiality, patricide and incest.

These neo-fascists seem to see an Indian under every busy and live in eternal fear of Indians swarming into Sri Lanka. Whenever a bridge over the Palk Straits to connect our two nations is proposed, they get into a paranoid frenzy that all of India is waiting drive over that bridge and make Sri Lanka their home, when trade agreements are discussed they see swarms of Indian doctors and barbers coming across to flood the Sri Lankan market. Now they claim that their IT specialists are all waiting to come and take the jobs of Sri Lankan engineers. This is when Indian IT engineers are some of the most sought after in the developing world.

This insecure, reactionary and muddled thinking does not do justice to the Sinhalese race’s great and long history, nor does it do justice to the gentle, compassionate and moderate majority of this country whose quiet observance of the Five Precepts and the best of Buddhist values in their daily lives is an example to the entire world. The Sinhalese, over the years, have had the courage and resilience to preserve the teachings of the Buddha in their most pristine form by having the wisdom and flexibility to change with the times and assimilate other cultural and religious influences into society as a whole – thus creating our island’s vibrant cultural diversity. Instead of being an example of hate, ignorance and violence as the neo-fascists would like Sri Lanka to be, we must be a shining example of the Eight Fold Path in a violent world that contains so much injustice and also a grand celebration of ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity.

But taking a longer term view, Sri Lanka and India have had the closest of cultural and political ties from ancient times and these bonds remain strong. When India flourished so did Lanka, when India was oppressed so was Lanka, when freedom dawned in India, it dawned Lanka too. So similarly, when India prospers, so will Lanka.

Therefore, today I think it fitting to survey an area of interaction that has the greatest potential for our mutual destinies and yet remains perhaps the most undeveloped; namely our economic relationship.

India, growing at over seven percent a year, is set to return to her historical place in the top three global economies by 2030. In the next 25 years the middle class is forecast to go from the 10 percent of India’s 1.6 billion strong population it is today, to 90 percent.

Ladies and Gentlemen, now as India is forging ahead to reclaim her rightful place as a super-power, if Sri Lanka too is to benefit from the Indian Century we must see India not as a threat, but as a great opportunity to prosper and develop. Sri Lanka must realize that like Canada, Hong Kong or Vietnam, we are blessed with a historic opportunity by way of our location right next to one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies – an economy that is thirty times our size. We must also realise that, as a small economy, being a Gateway to India is one of the most compelling reasons for the world to take notice of us.

India’s surging economic growth has created massive FDI and export opportunities. As annual investment by Indian companies abroad has rocketed from 6 million US dollars in 1990 to 9.8 billion US dollars in 2014, the total stock of Indian FDI in Sri Lanka has also grown by leaps and bounds – going from just over 100 million US dollars in the year 2000 to over 1.5 billion US dollars in 2014.

India is not only a direct source of FDI, with firms like IOC, the Taj Group, Ashok Leyland, making major investments in Sri Lanka; being a Gateway to India is one of the few ways in which we can secure FDI and ensure economic development. It is the prospect of entering the Indian market that leads to many global investors considering Sri Lanka as an investment destination. Consider the Port, we have been able to secure such large volumes of FDI because 70 percent of the Colombo Port’s entire container traffic is transshipment to India. Our financial services, IT, logistics and manufacturing sectors all have tremendous potential because they are geographically very well placed to tap the Indian market.

Securing investment directly from India and from other countries as a result of our position as a Gateway to India and the sub-continent, is not the only way Sri Lanka’s business and citizens can benefit from the gigantic Indian market. Sri Lankan firms are also increasingly making use of investment opportunities in India. A few examples include, Brandix India Apparel City, a thousand-acre apparel zone; MAS’ multiple factories and fabric parks; Aitken Spence’s 143 roomed hotel in Chennai.

Moving on to trade, Sri Lankan consumer firms are just beginning to penetrate the massive Indian market. Sri Lanka’s exports to India have increased by almost 10 times since the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement came into effect. Sri Lankan consumer brands like Amante, Avirate, Munchee and Damro are rapidly expanding and on the industrial side Colombo Dockyard has orders worth over 250 million dollars to build ships for Indian companies. As a result of such successes, the ratio of imports to exports between India and Sri Lanka declined from 10:1 to 6:1 within ten years of signing the agreement.

With the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement we will build on this Free Trade Agreement to put in place a rules based framework for services trade, enabling the services sector, which accounts for 60 percent of our economy, to benefit from the same market access and dynamism other sectors enjoy under the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement.

In the 21st Century, as the world’s economic centre of gravity returns to the East, we cannot afford to think of India as a threat, rather we must think of her as our greatest opportunity. All our current superstitions and prejudices about India must not colour our thinking. Most of all Sri Lanka must get rid of its minority complex which seems to have been acquired by seeing India as a threatening and hostile neighbour, inimical to the interests of our country.

India in turn must be vigilant to the needs, hopes and aspirations of ordinary Sri Lankans, so that recurring issues, like the bottom trawling crisis in the North of Sri Lanka, which not only affects the livelihoods of thousands of poor families and results in dangerous environmental damage to the rich seafloor of the Palk Straits, are resolved and do not give cause to anti-Indian feeling.

Allow me to conclude by saying that we cannot afford to stand by and watch as what could be the Indian Century passes us by. We must leverage our proximity to the Indian economy, one of our greatest blessings, and become the Gateway to India and the sub-continent. Then as India prosperous, we will prosper even more. We have already embarked on this Tryst with Opportunity. The time has come to transform that Tryst into reality.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs concludes visit to Hanoi, Viet Nam

February 1, 2016

The Vietnamese hailed the visit of Dr. Harsha de Silva, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, especially noting that it is the first high level bilateral visit to Viet Nam since President Maithripala Sirisena assumed office on 8th January 2015.

The visit also coincided with the 12th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) at which, the top leaders to lead the country for the next 05 years were elected. Further, the visit preceded an important period during which Viet Nam signed the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement and Free Trade Agreement with the EU, clearly giving a high leverage for the country over most other developing countries, opening doors to fast track its economy.

During the visit, the Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva called on his counterpart, Mr. Le Hoai Trung, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Do Thang Hai, Vice Minister of Industry and Trade. Meanwhile, Mr. Dang Xuan Quang, Deputy Director General of Foreign Investment Agency, counterpart of the Sri Lanka Board of Investment, called on the Deputy Minister. The Deputy Minister also participated in an event organized by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Hanoi, to launch the Sri Lanka Business Council in Viet Nam where he addressed top investors, business leaders and professionals. The Deputy Minister also attended the opening ceremony of the Linea Aqua Viet Nam and interacted with the Sri Lankan community in Viet Nam.

The main focus of the discussion between Vice Minister Le Hoai Trung and the Deputy Minister was Viet Nam’s strategy on economic development, sectors for bilateral cooperation, with special emphasis on attracting investment to Sri Lanka.

During the bilateral meeting with the Minister of Industry and Trade, Mr. Do Thang Hai, the focus was on improving bilateral trade in line with the agreement reached at the Sub Committee on Trade held in Colombo in March 2015, that highlighted the strategic location of Sri Lanka, as an important logistical hub for air connectivity and the promotion of tourism, trade and investment.

The Deputy Minister sharing his views emphasized that just as Sri Lanka welcomes businesses to invest in Sri Lanka, it also encourages Sri Lankan companies to take the comparative advantages that are offered elsewhere. Linea Aqua (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of the MAS Holdings of Sri Lanka, opened a factory just outside Hanoi city, where the Deputy Minister had participated in the inauguration. He welcomed Sri Lankan companies expanding their global footprint and establishing operations overseas.

He noted that currently, Sri Lankan investment in Viet Nam stood at US dollars 76.5 million with 14 projects, while Vietnamese investment in Sri Lanka was one project, yet to operationalize. More and more Vietnamese business ventures could explore the potentials of Sri Lanka’s business and market environment where Vietnamese could approach the huge and ever-growing South Asian market in the threshold of the process of creating knowledge based Social Market Economy built on social justice principles.

“Sri Lanka is developing its economic strategy in line with its strategic location in the Asian Waters (Ocean). The vision of Sri Lanka’s way forward is to develop the logistical hub between Singapore and Dubai in the Asian Waters. Colombo port is one of the busiest ports in the world, can play an important role in this context. The newly established Hambantota Port will also join with the country’s economic and trade strategy and be a vital base of maritime transportation”, Deputy Minister elucidated.

Moderating the Business Event, the Ambassador highlighted that Sri Lanka’s partnership with Vietnam is on the basis of mutual benefit and prosperity. She further emphasized the focus of the new Government’s Foreign Policy to engage all countries, with emphasis on economic diplomacy and the mandate of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs to promote economic diplomacy.

At the Business Event, 11 professionals and leaders of the business community in Viet Nam were identified to serve in the Interim Committee of the Sri Lanka Business Council in Viet Nam. The participants appreciated the role of the Embassy in launching the timely initiative.

Those who attended the Business Event included, Deputy Director General of Foreign Investment Agency Mr. Dang Xuan Quang, Deputy Director General of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nguyen Dac Thanh, senior officials of Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, Petro Viet Nam, Viet Nam Engineering and Agricultural Machinery Corporation, senior officials of Associations representing tea, gem and jewelry, apparel industries, Secretary General of Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce, Executive Vice President of FPT Group, the 3rd largest private company in Viet Nam and other expat business community and professionals including CEOs of top banks.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Hanoi

30th January 2016

Sri Lanka to open Consulate General Office in Milan, Italy

February 1, 2016

Media Release

Sri Lanka to open Consulate General Office in Milan, Italy

The Government of Sri Lanka has made arrangements to open a Consulate General Office in Milan, Italy with effect from 01st February 2016, to serve the Country’s large expatriate community there. The Sri Lankan community in Milan, is one of the largest in Northern Italy. Milan is Italy’s second leading city with a metropolitan population of 1.3 million and one of the major financial centres in Europe. Milan, is also home to among the largest Consular Corps in the World, with 128 different countries having resident offices.

A Consulate in Milan has been a long felt need for the Sri Lankan community in northern Italy, with previously consular services in Northern Italy being carried out by a mobile consular service by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Rome. The setting up on a Consulate General office now provides the expatriate members of the Sri Lankan community much needed assistance and services. Accordingly, all requests for Consular Services from those residing in the Regions of Lombardy, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Piedmont, Trentino Alto Adige, Valle d’ Aosta and Veneto in Italy, would be handled by the Consulate General Office in Milan.

Mrs. Pradeepa Saram has been appointed as the Consul General. She is a member of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service batch of 1998 and has served in Sri Lanka missions in the United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United Kingdom and was the former Actg. Director General of the Consular Affairs Division of the Foreign Ministry.

• Contact details of the Consulate General

Consulate General of Sri Lanka
Via Francesco Melzi d’Eril, 34,
20154, Milan. Italy

Telephone: +39-02-49536530
Fax: +39-02-49536533
+39-02-49536532 (Consular)
Email: slcg.milan@mfa.gov.lk

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo

30 January 2016

Victorian Parliament Speaker visits Colombo

January 12, 2016

The Speaker of the Victorian Parliament Telmo Languiller who is currently on a visit to Sri Lanka, met Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament Karu Jayasuriya and Deputy Speaker Thilanga Sumathipala.

The picture shows Mr, Languillier with the Speaker (4^th from right) and Deputy Speaker (5^th from right). Secretary General of Parliament Dhammika Dassanayake (4^th from left), Australian Deputy High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Tim Huggins (3^rd from left) and Mr. Susantha Katugampala, lawyer from Australia (extreme right) are also in the picture.

Mr. Languillier also met the Leader of the Opposition and Tamil National Alliance R. Sampanthan.

Photo courtesy: www.ft.lk

Statement made by the President in Parliament on 9 January 2016

January 11, 2016

Pl. click for read in English

Pl. click for read in Sinhala

First anniversary of inauguration in office of the President

January 8, 2016

The first anniversary of the inauguration in office of His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena was celebrated at the High Commission on the morning of 8th January, with the participation of religious dignitaries representing Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Islam faiths, and representatives of Sri Lanka Associations based in Canberra.

The Chief Prelate of the Canberra Buddhist Vihara and religious dignitaries representing the Hindu, Christian and Islam faiths invoked blessings on the President, Government and the people of Sri Lanka, as well as the High Commission staff and Sri Lankan community in Canberra.

In welcoming those present, the High Commissioner said “we come into this world as equals. We leave it as equals. Why then should the interim be treated differently?”

He then quoted Lord Buddha’s saying “Lokah Samathah Sukhina Bhavanthu” and observed that His Excellency the President’s vision for Sri Lanka and all its people was also the same and emphasised our collective responsibility to contribute sincerely and meaningfully towards it.

The religious blessing was followed by the planting of two trees in the Mission premises, to the chanting of pirith.

Statement to Media by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera after official talks with Norway Foreign Minister Børge Brende

January 8, 2016

Statement to the Media by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Foreign Affairs
after the Official Talks with Hon. Børge Brende, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 7 January 2016

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen,

It has been an honour and a privilege to welcome the Norwegian Foreign Minister the Hon. Børge Brende to Sri Lanka, this morning. An official visit by a Norwegian Foreign Minister takes place after nearly 11 years. I hope that the very productive meeting we have just concluded will set the tone for this new chapter in our relations.

Your visit, Minister Brende, comes at a very propitious time. As Sri Lankans are preparing to celebrate the first anniversary of the Sirisena Presidency and the new political trajectory that Sri Lanka undertook one year ago.

As Sri Lanka embarks on this new path, we are encouraged that we have been able to gain the support and confidence of the international community after years of censure and isolation. You are coming to Sri Lanka at a time when Sri Lanka is trying to come to terms with its past and to forge ahead. The domestic mechanisms through which we are trying to address this past, are in the process of being developed and the consultation process to design these mechanisms, will begin next week. Also on Saturday a special session of Parliament will form a constitutional council, a committee consisting of the whole Parliament, which will begin the serious business of consulting the people and drafting a new constitution for Sri Lanka that reflects the aspirations of all Sri Lankans.

Economic and Social Development are key priorities of this Government. Minister Brende and I discussed expanding Norwegian development assistance, especially technical assistance for the fisheries sector and solar power generation.

In addition, we explored the possibility of expanding Norwegian investment in Sri Lanka, both through portfolio and foreign direct investment.

I am confident that regular high level interaction at all levels will pave the way for a stronger relationship between Norway and Sri Lanka, which in turn will benefit our countries and our people.

Later today, Minister Brende will call on President Maithripala Sirisena and hold discussions with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

I wish Minister Brende and his delegation a very pleasant stay in Sri Lanka.

Thank you.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo

7th January 2016