Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister Peiris visited India; Bilateral discussion held on passenger transportation by sea between India and Sri Lanka; Sri Lankan Minister of Economic Development visited South Korea;
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    • President Mahinda Rajapaksa and External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris visited India for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. During the visit, they held bilateral discussions with the Indian Prime Minister and several other senior Indian Government personalities. Minister Peiris met with his Indian counterpart, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Minister of Home Affairs Mr. P. Chidambaram, Minister of Human Resource Development Mr. Kapil Sibal and Minister of Commerce & Industry Mr. Anand Sharma.1 During his meeting with HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, he sought help of the Indian government in implementing the policy of trilingualism comprising three languages -- Tamil, Sinhalese and English.2

    According to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka sources, a delegation led by Indian Ministry of Shipping Secretary K. Mohandas held talks with a Sri Lankan delegation led by Secretary to the Ministry of Ports and Aviation K.V.P. Ranjith de Silva on October 14 and 15 on the proposed ferry service as well as on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on passenger transportation by sea between the two countries.3

    Sri Lanka’s Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa was on a four-day official visit to the South Korea. During his visit Mr Rajapaksa met the Korean Prime Minister Hon. Kim Hwang Sik, the Korean Acting Minister of Knowledge Economy, Korean Minister of Culture, Sports & Tourism and held discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He also met with officials of several key Korean blue-chip companies in the fields of constructions, energy, engineering, machinery etc in order to explore how best these companies could invest in the development efforts of Sri Lanka.4 The eighth round of talks of the US-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Joint Council was held in Colombo on October 14.5

    In other developments, according to the World Economic Forum study report, Sri Lanka ranks 16th among 134 countries in the world in the Global Gender Equality List this year. Sri Lanka was ranked 12th in 2008, 15th in 2007 and 13th in 2006.6

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