Rishad bids farewell to Iranian envoy

Tuesday, 25 October 2011 01:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

“Sri Lanka and Iran have been enjoying extremely cordial relations for many decades.

These ties have been further consolidated with regular high level visits to each other.

Nevertheless, I believe that the departure and separation from Sri Lanka of Mahmoud Rahimi Gorji, Iranian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, would not be lasting specially if we could meet Gorji again in the forthcoming Sri Lanka-Iran Joint Economic Cooperation meeting in Tehran, possibly in early 2012,” said Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce.

Minister Bathiudeen was delivering his vote of thanks to the invitees including Mahmoud Rahimi Gorji, the Iranian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives, who took part in the farewell dinner hosted in honour of Rahimi Gorji, by Minister Bathiudeen on 21 October in Colombo.

Among the many instances of assistance extended by the Government of Iran to Sri Lanka are the assistance by the Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister towards relief and rehabilitation for the displaced Muslim people in the Northern Sri Lanka, support for Uma Oya and the rural electrification projects, provision of shelters for 326 resettled families in Palakkudi in the Museli DS Division, and more recently, provision of dates for deserving Muslim refugees during the Ramazan fast.

“On behalf of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka and the people of Sri Lanka, I take this opportunity to extend my thankfulness to Mahmoud Rahimi Gorji for facilitating all valuable assistance from people of Iran to people of Sri Lanka.

Moreover, I also extend the sincere gratitude to you on behalf of the Muslim refugees who immensely benefited and will continue to benefit from the benevolence of Islamic Republic of Iran,” Minister Bathiudeen concluded.