PM Nawaz Sharif accorded warm welcome at Sri Lankan President’s Secretariat

Colombo : Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was given warm welcome as he arrived here Tuesday at the President’s Secretariat to hold bilateral talks.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received Prime Minister Sharif on his arrival at the presidency. The Sri Lankan First Lady greeted Begum Kalsoom Nawaz.

National anthems of the two countries were played followed by the 19-gun salute.

The Prime Minister reviewed the guard of honour presented by a contingent of Sri Lankan forces.

A large group of people wearing colourful traditional costumes presented ‘Kandian’ dance to the tunes of thumping dhols (drums) to welcome the dignitary.

Horse riding men and women lined up the road leading the Prime Minister’s motorcade to presidency.

Prime Minister Sharif and his Sri Lankan counterpart Wickremesinghe introduced each other with the members of their respective delegations.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Colombo on Monday on an official visit from January 4-6 on the invitation of the Sri Lankan President.

Meanwhile ; Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena emphasized on enhancing cooperation in bilateral trade, defence production and tourism.

In a meeting held at the President’s Secretariat, the two leaders focused on further consolidating their ties for the mutual benefit of their countries.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with Sri Lanka, which he said, had grown stronger over the last six decades.

He recalled the visit of President Maithripala to Pakistan in April last year terming it as positive and encouraging, during which a number of agreements were signed between the two countries.He mentioned that Sri Lanka enjoys exceptional position of being the first country with which Pakistan entered into a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

He emphasized on taking steps to increase the present volume of bilateral trade of US $ 325 million to US $ 1 billion by the end of 2016.

Nawaz Sharif pointed the need for resolution of tariff issues by Sri Lankan authorities which he said would facilitate the Pakistani businessmen in maintaining export of their products to Sri Lanka on a long term basis.

The Prime Minister apprised the Sri Lankan President of the improved security situation in Pakistan in the wake of operation Zarb-e-Azb. He said Pakistan was an attractive country for tourism and mentioned that being home to the Buddhist Civilization and heritage, the country offered great potential for promoting religious tourism, particularly in Sri Lanka.

The two sides also discussed the potential of cooperation in defence production.

Later, Prime Minister Sharif and President Maithripala led their delegations for talks on issues of bilateral interest. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also joined the delegation-level talks.

The Pakistan side was represented by Commerce Minister Engineer Khurram Dastagir Khan, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and National Security Advisor Lt Gen (retd) Nasir Khan Janjua.

Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Srisena Tuesday agreed on reinvigorating ties between the two countries with focus on enhanced cooperation in trade, science and technology, defence production and tourism.

The two leaders in an interaction with media after leading the delegation-level talk and witnessing the signing of bilateral accords here at the President’s Secretariat, stressed the need for fully exploiting their friendship for the development and prosperity of their peoples.