PM thanks Sri Lanka for gracious hospitality

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Thursday has said that Sri Lanka is a special friend and a strong partner of Pakistan.

In a post on social-networking website Twiter, the premier thanked the leadership and the people of Sri Lanka for warm reception and gracious hospitality during his tour. The prime minister said that he agrees with the impression that Pakistan-sri Lanka relations are growing in a dignified manner for further expansion and promotion.

It is to be mentioned here that Imran has recently concluded his two-day official visit to Sri Lanka where he met the senior leadership and business community and invited them to visit Pakistan.

Imran said Pakistan and Sri Lanka share common problems including terrorism as both the countries have suffered a lot due to this menace.

Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed

will to boost bilateral ties with Pakistan in the fields of economy, trade, investment, education, defence, tourism, aviation and other sectors.

Earlier, Pakistan and Sri Lanka agreed to strengthen cooperation in several areas including agriculture.

During a meeting on Wednesday, Imran underlined the exceptional quality of the

Pakistan-sri Lanka relations with mutual trust, understanding and support.

Imran emphasised the importance of building robust economic partnership between the two countries characterised by enhanced bilateral trade, investments and commercial cooperation.

He emphasised the importance of regional cooperation through the plaform of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the opportunities for regional prosperity through the China-pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of China s Belt and Road Initiative.

For his part, Rajapaksa expressed his wish to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and also exchanged views on sharing technical know how in order to promote agriculture in both countries.

Onwednesday,foreignministershahmahmood

Qureshi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena underscored the need to expand Pakistan-sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to realise the full potential of bilateral trade.

In a meeting held in Colombo, the two foreign ministers reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations and agreed to work closely to further strengthen ties and enhance cooperation in diverse fields.

Qureshi stressed the importance Pakistan atached to its relations with Sri Lanka in further strengthening the multifaceted cooperation. He said Imran’s visit to Sri Lanka was reflective of the priority accorded to this relationship.