President Rajapaksa concludes historic visit to the Middle East
Saturday, 11 January 2014 08:17
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
This week, President Mahinda Rajapaksa became the first Sri Lankan head of state to visit Israel and Palestine. Accompanied by First Lady Shiranthi Wickremasinghe Rajapaksa and a delegation, the President took part in a three-state visit, spending two days each in Jordan, Palestine and Israel.
Jordan
In Jordan, President Rajapaksa and the King of Jordan His Majesty King Abdulla II Ibn Al Hussein met again for the third time. At the meeting at the Royal Hashemite Court in Amman, the President and King Abdulla discussed a number of areas for further collaboration between the two countries – some traditional areas such as defence cooperation and some new areas like telemedicine, among others.
Given the fact that Sri Lanka is currently the largest supplier of tea to Jordan, President Rajapaksa spoke on behalf of Sri Lankan tea producers and requested King Abdulla to consider a duty concession for the tea that Jordan imports from Sri Lanka. The progress of the Joint Committee was also discussed at the meeting.
Palestine
From Jordan, President Rajapaksa flew directly to the Presidential Palace of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the West Bank.
The first stop was to the mausoleum of the former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat where President Rajapaksa laid a wreath to honour the late President. One of the highlights of the tour was the conferment of the “Star of Palestine” to President Rajapaksa by the Government of Palestine. It is the highest award in Palestine and was awarded to the Sri Lankan President for his commitment to the Palestinian cause – President Rajapaksa was the founder president of the Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine.
The President has been further honoured in Ramallah with a road named “H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa,” which is located opposite the Sri Lanka Representative Office.
“Sri Lanka will always support your cause,” President Rajapaksa told President Abbas during bilateral discussions. “We hope that we will have an independent Palestine as soon as possible,” he said.
During the bilateral discussions between President Rajapaksa and President Abbas, the two leaders discussed the ground situations in both of the countries. The Palestinian President briefed President Rajapaksa of the ongoing negotiations to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Rajapaksa briefed President Abbas of the developments that have taken place in Sri Lanka since the war ended in 2009.
“Our two countries maintain good relations, and I wish it will improve more and more,” President Abbas said.
Following bilateral discussions, the two leaders witnessed the signing of the agreement on establishing the Sri Lanka-Palestine Joint Commission, after which President declared open the Mahinda Rajapaksa Vocational Training Centre.
In Bethlehem, the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III of the Church of the Nativity hosted Christmas Eve dinner in honor of the President and the First Lady that was also attended by President Abbas, and local and foreign dignitaries. Most Eastern Orthodox Christian denominations celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on 7 January in contrast to the Western Christian tradition of celebrating on 25 December. President Rajapaksa and the First Lady also stayed for the midnight mass.
Israel
From Bethlehem, President Rajapaksa travelled to Jerusalem, becoming the first Sri Lankan head of state to ever visit Israel. On the two-day visit, the President met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Greater cooperation in the areas of trade, agriculture, irrigation, water and the ICT sector were discussed during the talks with the Israeli Prime Minister. The two heads also discussed the possibilities of increasing the numbers of Sri Lankan workers employed in Israel with the Prime Minister pointing out that Israeli employers were quite satisfied with Sri Lankan employees.
On Thursday (9), President Rajapaksa held discussions with Israeli President Shimon Peres during which the Israeli President lauded President Rajapaksa’s leadership and for Sri Lanka’s achievements in the area of reconciliation after the war ended in 2009. A “very impressive record” is the way President Peres described President Rajapaksa’s achievements.
In discussing the Israeli-Palestinian situation, President Rajapaksa reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment to the UN-recommended two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace.
“We always support peace,” President Rajapaksa said. “We always supported the two-state policies. Our support is there for peace for all people.”
The President thanked Israel for the assistance it provided during the aftermath of the Asian tsunami in 2004. He also briefed them on the developments that have taken place in Sri Lanka since the end of the war and the ongoing reconciliation process.
Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Monitoring MP of the Ministry of External Affairs Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, Parliamentarians Kamala Ranatunga, Roshan Ranasinghe, and John Amaratunga, and Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga were a part of the delegation on this visit.
Pix by Sudath Silva
