President Mamnoon Hussain and his Sri Lankan counterpart Maithripala Sirisena agreed to work together for regional peace, bilateral cooperation and enhancement of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) role.
During their meeting at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Saturday, both the sides agreed that they would continue their close cooperation for regional peace, stability, development and prosperity of the people, said a press release.
Both the sides stressed upon further enhancement of the role of SAARC by making it more effective. They held a brief one-on-one meeting and later on, joined by delegations from the both sides.
During the meeting, Mamnoon Hussain welcomed the visiting dignitary and said his participation during Pakistan Day ceremony was a portrayal of close ties between both the countries.
Sri Lankan president also expressed his gratitude and said it was a matter of pleasure for him and an honour for the Sri Lankan people. He said that they consider Pakistan as their real brother and a close friend.
Mamnoon Hussain proposed for working together to increase bilateral trade between the two countries to which his Sri Lankan counterpart agreed. He also underlined the need to boost air and maritime linkages so that the cooperation in business and industry besides, other sectors can be boosted.
President Sirisena expressed his satisfaction over the increasing cooperation in different sectors including defence and expressed the confidence that it would witness further boost in future.
He reiterated his country's support to Pakistan in its efforts against terrorism and expressed his satisfaction over the achievements against it.
He also thanked the President for extending academic and training scholarships to Sri Lankan students and officers.
The meeting was also attended by Sri Lankan minister Wasantha Senanayake, Minister for Rehabilitation MLAM Hizbullah, members of Parliament from Sri Lanka Syed Ali Zahir Moulana, Abdullah Maroof and SM Marikkar and Minister for Safron Abdul Qadir Baloch, foreign secretary and other high officials.-PR