Kathmandu, June 13: Secretary General of SAARC, Ambassador Golam Sarwar, paid a courtesy call on Ranil Wickremesinghe, President of Sri Lanka, at the President’s Office in Colombo on June 12. As part of his ongoing visit to the member states, the SAARC SG is currently on an introductory consultations visit to Sri Lanka.
President Wickremesinghe welcomed Ambassador Sarwar and congratulated him on assuming charge as the fifteenth Secretary General of SAARC.
Ambassador Sarwar expressed appreciation for Sri Lankan support of the SAARC process since its establishment in December 1985. Furthermore, he conveyed confidence in receiving continued support and guidance from Sri Lanka to further strengthen the SAARC process. The SG apprised the President about the current activities of SAARC and its challenges and sought Sri Lanka’s support in re-energising the SAARC process. In briefing on the recent development of holding the Governing Board Meetings of all the SAARC Regional Centers and Specialized Bodies, which led to the holding of a Programming Committee meeting at the SAARC Secretariat in March this year, SG Sarwar expressed his hopes to convene higher level meetings of the Chartered Bodies in consultations with the SAARC Chair Nepal at the earliest possible.
President Wickremesinghe appreciated the initiatives of the SAARC Secretary General and requested him to consider taking further steps to revitalize the SAARC process given the prevailing situation emphasizing that SAARC embodies the hopes and aspirations of its peoples and countries in the region for prosperity. Upon the Secretary General’s request, the President of Sri Lanka has graciously agreed to allocate a permanent venue to the SAARC Cultural Centre in Colombo that aligns with the provisions outlined in the Headquarters Agreement signed between the Centre and Sri Lanka. President Wickremesinghe reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to SAARC and extending every possible support to materialize the goals of SAARC to achieve a sustainable and integrated development in the region through cooperation under the SAARC process.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
Login to add a comment