Sri Lankan MEA paid two day visit to New Delhi; India-Sri Lanka bilateral trade reached an estimated all-time high of US$ 5 billion; Sri Lankan business delegates visit Bangladesh; Pakistani trade delegation visits Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka-Indonesia bilateral
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    • According to reports, Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G.L. Peiris, on a two-day visit to New Delhi, held discussions on 23 January 2012 with over seventy envoys accredited to Sri Lanka who are resident in New Delhi. The Minister briefed the envoys in detail regarding the situation which existed in Sri Lanka’s North and East before the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009; the current situation; specific approaches that have been identified as a means of overcoming the challenges before the nation; and the progress made so far in multiple fronts since the end of the conflict approximately two-and-a-half years ago. Prof. Peiris while meeting with India’s Minister of Human Resource Development and Minister of Communications and Information Technology of India, Kapil Sibal, discussed how India could support the effective implementation of the National Plan for a Trilingual Sri Lanka (2012-2021) that was launched on 21 January by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with the participation of former President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. With a view to enhancing cooperation between the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS), and Indian Institutions, the Minister met former Indian Foreign Secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran, Chairman of the Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries (RIS) as well as the Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), Ambassador Sudir Devare. 1

    Menawhile, reports noted that the bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and India last year surged by over 70 percent and reached an estimated all-time high of US$ 5 billion, the High Commissioner of India Ashok Kantha said. 2

    According to reports, in a measure to boost trade relations between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (NCCSL) has organized a tour for a Sri Lankan business delegation to visit Dhaka. Accordingly, a group of Sri Lankan businessmen from 11 local businesses has left the country to participate in an international trade exhibition in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. 3

    In another development, reports noted that a Pakistani trade delegation of fruit and vegetable producers and exporters is visiting Sri Lanka to explore the ways and means to enhance bilateral trade between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. 4

    In other develoepmts, reports note that Sri Lanka and Indonesia resolved to set a target for bilateral trade to reach US $ 1 billion by the year 2015. 5 In the meanwhile, Japan has extended US$ 223,075 (approximately Rs.25 Million) grant aid for a reconstruction project in Killinochchi District in order to improve the living environment and livelihood of recent returnees in a conflict affected village in Kandavalai Divisional Secretary Division, Killinochchi. 6

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