In a special gesture of friendship and solidarity from the Government of Pakistan towards the Government of Sri Lanka, Chairman Senate, Farooq Hamid Naek represented Pakistan along-with Saleem Mandaviwalla, Chairman Board of Investment in the swearing-in ceremony of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who assumed charge for the second term of office in Colombo on November 19, 2010, said a press release received from High Commission of Pakistan, Colombo, here on Saturday.
In his interaction with the Sri Lankan President, Naek handed-over congratulatory message of President Asif Ali Zardari for assuming the charge of second tenure as president. He also conveyed greetings and best wishes from the people of Pakistan to the government and people of Sri Lanka. Chairman senate also had interaction with the Prime Minister of Bhutan, speaker of Maldives and other foreign envoys attending the ceremony, and participated in the official lunch hosted by the President of Sri Lanka.
During his stay in Sri Lanka, Naek held several high profile meetings with the top leadership of the country. These interactions included a meeting between chairman senate and speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament Chamal Rajapaksa. In this meeting, the two leaders agreed to further enhance level of co-operation between the traditional allies and friendly countries of in the spheres of trade, economic, political and diplomatic integration. He invited the speaker and Sri Lankan parliamentarians to visit Pakistan in January 2011.
Chairman senate also attended official lunch with the members of Sri Lanka Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Association, which was hosted by High Commission of Pakistan. He thanked Chairman of Sri Lankan Parliament for his support in reactivation of Sri Lanka-Pakistan Parliamentary friendship Association. The association is a bipartite grouping of Sri Lankan parliamentarians, which is aimed at enhancing inter-parliamentary co-ordination and mutual support.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka have continued to maintain strong, robust and reliable relations through increased interaction at the highest political level and people-to-people domain. Record representation in trade activities by delegations from both the countries has given the opportunity of boosting bilateral ties with impressive increase in trade volume between them.-PR