ISLAMABAD:
President Asif Ali Zardari, on behalf of the Government and the people of Pakistan, and personally, extended his warm felicitations to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the Government and the friendly people of Sri Lanka on the occasion of the country’s 78th Independence Day.
“This important day reflects the unity and national pride of the Sri Lankan people, as well as the strength and continuity of their national journey, shaped by a rich cultural heritage and resilience. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have a time-tested friendship as we have stood together through thick and thin.
Pakistan’s armed forces played an important role assigned by the people of Sri Lanka to crush terrorism on their homeland,” President Secretariat Media Wing, in a press release, quoted the president as saying.
The president also appreciated the role played by Sri Lanka in South Asian cooperation as Sri Lanka hosted the 6th (1991), the 10th (1998) and the 15th (2008) SAARC summits in Colombo. It is sad that India has stalled the SAARC summits for almost 12 years by violating its spirit just because the next summit was supposed to be hosted by Pakistan.
“On this day, I hope that Sri Lanka and Pakistan will continue to cooperate for South Asian security and the revival of SAARC. Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy longstanding and brotherly relations, founded on mutual trust, goodwill, and shared values. Over the years, our two countries have stood together in times of challenge as well as in moments of achievement,” he added.
The president said that he was confident that the bonds of friendship and cooperation between Pakistan and Sri Lanka would continue to grow stronger as they worked together to further deepen our bilateral relations in the years ahead.