Oppose external interventions:

Russia, China reaffirm solidarity with Lanka

by Manjula FERNANDO

The two-veto wielding superpowers, Russia and China reiterated their goodwill and solidarity with Sri Lanka when their Heads of State met President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the 15th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, whose first meeting after the plenary sessions of the Forum was with his Sri Lankan counterpart, has emphasised Russia’s stance to support Sri Lanka in all its efforts to rebuild the country after a bitter war.

He has noted that both Russia and Sri Lanka have equally suffered from terrorism and are aware of the pain and destruction caused by it, during the bilateral discussions which lasted about 45 minutes. Chinese President Hu Jintao, who opposed any external interventions in Sri Lanka’s affairs, has stressed that China will always support Sri Lanka to safeguard the country’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and maintain the coordination and cooperation with Sri Lanka on regional and international affairs.

According to the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, Hu, during the meeting with President Rajapaksa, has said that China was pleased to see that, in recent years, Sri Lanka has achieved political stability and rapid economic development. He has commended the positive progress in the post-war resettlement of civilians.

Hu has said Sri Lanka is a friend and partner of mutual trust. He has observed that in recent years, bilateral ties have kept their momentum and had deepened in the area of exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

The Chinese leader has said China is willing to join hands with Sri Lanka to consolidate the traditional friendship, expand pragmatic cooperation, sincere mutual support and everlasting friendship and comprehensive cooperation partnership in Sri Lanka to new heights.

A member of the Sri Lankan delegation, speaking from Russia told the Sunday Observer that President Rajapaksa’s visit was highly fruitful in terms of strengthening bilateral ties and seeking new opportunities in the trade and tourism sectors.

The Russian President has expressed his willingness to visit Sri Lanka along with his Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov who is fluent in Sinhala.

“We had three scheduled bilateral meetings with the Russian and Chinese Presidents and the Spanish Prime Minister. All these meetings were highly fruitful,” he said. President Rajapaksa has appreciated the unstinted support and assistance extended by the two countries on regional and international issues affecting the country as well as in the post-war development initiatives.

On the development of investment opportunities, the President invited Russian investors to take advantage of the potential that prevails in Sri Lanka as a destination for investment in the region.

This was the first time Sri Lanka was represented at this top international economists’ forum. Sri Lanka attended the meeting as an Observer.

Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris, Senior Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga were present during the discussions.