Sri Lanka, Nepal agree to strengthening bilateral relations

The Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that the commitment shown by Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena for the activities of the SAARC is significant and the gratitude of all the SAARC countries must go to him in this regard. He made these remarks when he held a bilateral meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena on the sidelines of the 72nd Session of UNGA, in New York Thursday (21).

During this meeting the President pointed out the need of continuously taking forward the activities of the SAARC without any hindrance and said that when he met with the leaders of Pakistan and India recently, he had emphasised the need for strengthening the activities of the SAARC. The leaders paid their special attention to further developing bilateral relations between the two countries in all the fields, at a time Nepal and Sri Lanka celebrate the 60th anniversary of establishing bilateral relations between. It was discussed in detail regarding taking forward the economic, trade as well as religious and cultural ties between the two nations. The President recalled the meeting he had with the Nepal President when she visited Sri Lanka to attend the International Buddhist Conference, to further promote the bilateral relations and said that he is expected to visit Nepal next October accepting the invitation extended to him by the Nepal President during her visit to Sri Lanka.  

The Nepal Prime Minister emphasised that they are ready to provide their assistance to Sri Lanka when needed and said that Nepal always provides assistance to Sri Lanka in issues of human rights.

During the meeting the President extended his deep concern for the hardships faced by Nepal due to the recent earthquake and said that as a friendly country Sri Lanka took steps to provide every possible assistance to Nepal. The Nepal Prime Minister also extended his gratitude in this regard and said that he is very pleased on this meeting as two important countries in the SAARC as well as friendly states which have long history.