President Sirisena meets with Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain

COLOMBO (News 1st) - President Maithripala Sirisena who is on an official visit to Pakistan met with Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain today (March 24). President Sirisena was warmly received by the Pakistani President when he arrived at the President’s Official Residence in Islamabad. At the discussions today (March 24), the Leaders of Sri Lanka and Pakistan pledged to move forward joining hands in brotherhood in achieving economic prosperity while further strengthening the long-standing bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan. President Mamnoon Hussain accepted the request made by President Sirisena to increase the scholarships and training opportunities given to Sri Lanka and promised to fulfill this request in the future. The Pakistan President requested President Sirisena to provide support to hold the next SAARC summit in Pakistan. The Pakistani President took this opportunity to thank the government of Sri Lanka for sending the Sri Lankan cricket team to Pakistan in 2017 even after the Sri Lankan cricket team faced a regretful incident in Pakistan. The official bilateral meeting between President Sirisena and the Pakistani Prime Minister was held at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Islamabad yesterday (March 23). The two leaders held a lengthy discussion on strengthening economic and trade relations as well as defense training programs between the two countries. The President took this opportunity to thank the Pakistan Prime Minister for his quick response to a recent phone call made by him regarding the fertilizer issue in Sri Lanka. Expressing his views on the recent incident that occurred in Kandy, the Prime Minister of Pakistan stated that he bestows his honour on the President in recognition of the manner in which the President acted to solve the issues utilizing his political experiences. Speaking on this issue, the President had said he will not allow any such incidents to reoccur in the future.