ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan and Sri Lanka have underlined the need to further strengthen the bilateral relations and cooperation.
In a meeting with a Sri Lankan delegation led by former President of Sri Lanka Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa in Islamabad, the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that strong Pak-Sri Lankan partnership was key to promoting greater cooperation in the region and strengthening regional platforms. He said that it was also a bulwark against the challenges facing the region including the issue of terrorism and poverty besides warding off any self-assumed notion of hegemony in the region.
Welcoming the visiting delegation, the minister remarked that the former president Rajapaksa Mahinda is known to Pakistani people as one of the true friends of Pakistan who, during his tenure, not just added great strength to the Pak-Sri Lankan relations but was also instrumental in diversifying this equation in all possible areas of mutual cooperation.
The minister while expressing satisfaction over the steady and upward trajectory of Pak-Sri Lankan economic, political, socio-cultural and defence cooperation observed that our relations spanning over six decades are characterized by spirit of sincerity, friendship, mutual respect, understanding and mutual cooperation for the benefit of our people.
The interior minister said that Pakistan and Sri Lanka face challenges of similar nature and our strategic friendship is critical not only to ward off hegemonic intentions in the region but also to fight our mutual challenges and issues. He said that if poverty, natural calamities and socio-economic conditions pose challenges to our ordinary people, the issues of terrorism, volatile regional peace and instability threaten us at the state level thus impeding our march towards progress and securing brighter and secure future for our people.
Chaudhry Nisar said that the tenure of former president Rajapaksa has provided the two countries with a solid base to further build on gains of the past and broaden the scope of the existing relations by exploring new avenues of cooperation especially in the areas of economy, security, border management, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, fighting illicit drug trade and human trafficking.
The Sri Lankan former president thanked the interior minister and the government of Pakistan for the warm welcome that was extended to him and his delegation during his visit.
Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed the hope that the Pakistan and Sri Lanka would continue to tread the path that leads to greater cooperation and greater understanding between the two countries in the years to follow.
