Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Sirisena concludes 2-day visit to Nepal


Kathmandu, Sept 2: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena concluded his two-day bilateral, goodwill visit to Nepal on Sunday.

At the invitation of President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Sirisena was on an official visit to Nepal from September 1 to 2.

He returned home Sunday afternoon.
His visit coincided with the fourth BIMSTEC Summit 2018. He had arrived in Kathmandu on September 29 to participate in the conference, and he had extended the stay to pay a bilateral and goodwill visit to Nepal.

President Sirisena was accompanied by his spouse Jayanthi Pushpa Kumari, State Minister of Foreign Affairs Vasanta Senanayake and other high-level officials of his government.

The President of Sri Lanka had a bilateral meeting with President Bhandari on Saturday.

A wide range of issues pertaining to Nepal-Sri Lanka relations were discussed on the occasion, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The two Presidents also expressed happiness on the successful conclusion of the 4th BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu on 30-31 August.

They witnessed the exchange of two Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) between the governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The MoU between the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) of Nepal and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute of Sri Lanka was signed by the Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and W.S. Parera, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Nepal, on behalf of their countries.

Similarly, the MoU on Cooperation for the Youth Development was signed by Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Nepal Mohan Krishna Sapkota and Ambassador Parera.
President Bhandari had hosted a dinner in honour of the President of Sri Lanka and his delegation.

Earlier, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli had called on Sirisena, during which views were expressed on further strengthening relations between the two countries on mutually beneficial spheres.

The President of Sri Lanka visited Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha on Saturday.
Chief of Province 5 Umakanta Jha, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation  Rabindra Adhikari, provincial ministers and officials of Lumbini Development Trust had welcomed the Sri Lankan President.

President Sirisena offered prayers at the Mayadevi Temple and also inspected the Sri Lankan monastery built on the Lumbini premises.
He also paid homage to Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu during his visit.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 September 2018. 

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