Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa

Minister of Buddhasasana and Wayamba Development Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, designated as the Special Envoy of President Maithripala Sirisena, to gift a sapling of the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi Tree to Thailand, called on Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on 18 February 2019 at the Government House in Bangkok. This sacred gifting is following an initiative of President Sirisena. The Minister having conveyed President Sirisena’s regrets on his inability to participate personally at the gifting ceremony of the sacred bo sapling, also outlined the advent of Buddhism in Sri Lanka 2600 years ago.

Prime Minister Chan-o-cha while warmly recalling his last official visit to Sri Lanka acknowledged its outcome as fruitful, and expressed thanks to President Sirisena for the Buddha statue gifted to Wat Dhammaram during his official visit to Thailand, enabling the exposition of the Mahiyangana sacred relics which were worshiped by 500,000 Thai people on that occasion and the present gifting of the sacred bo sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi, which will be enshrined in Ayutthaya, and easily accessible to the Thai people. It may be recalled that when the foundation of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist monkhood eroded during the colonial period, it was the King of then Siam with the capital of the Kingdom being Ayutthaya, that re-established the higher ordination tradition by sending a delegation of monks from there.

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena during a meeting with the Australian High Commissioner David Holly on 13 July 2021 discussed avenues for consolidating relations between the two countries in multiple spheres to achieve tangible outcomes.

Following up from the successful telephone conversation held with the Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in June this year, the two sides discussed ways and means to enhance the capacity of the Sri Lankan Marine Protection Authorities to minimize the damage caused by future maritime catastrophes.  In this regard, the Minister Gunawardena extended Sri Lanka’s gratitude for the provision of personal protective equipment and gear to assist the coastal cleaning efforts due to the MV X-Press Pearl disaster. It was agreed to build a broad-based dialogue around the issue of maritime environmental calamities and the importance of curtailing the adverse impacts of such incidents through international and regional fora such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).

The Foreign Minister Gunawardena appreciated Australia’s continuous support to enhance capability of the public health sector to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and projects implemented under Australian Overseas Development Assistance to bolster the socio-economic development in Sri Lanka.

The two sides also agreed to prioritize convening of bilateral consultations between the two countries in the political, economic and maritime sectors as key platforms for deepening and extending the bilateral partnership in keeping with the mutual interests of the countries.  Advancing collaborations in the science and technology field through a structured mechanism, was also identified as a potential sector for exchange of expertise.

High Commissioner Holly affirmed Australia’s keenness to jointly promote Sri Lanka as an educational hub where international students could obtain Australian qualifications in Sri Lanka.  While welcoming the education cooperation between the two countries and Australian Government’s current efforts to permit the return of international students to Australia, whose higher studies have been affected due to the ongoing COVID-19 related travel restrictions, Foreign Minister Gunawardena requested to consider the early facilitation of Sri Lankan students’ travel to Australia.

Foreign Ministry

Colombo

14 July, 2021

(https://mfa.gov.lk/sl-australia/)

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Canada, M.A.K. Girihagama, presented his letter of appointment as the Representative of Sri Lanka to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, at a meeting with Secretary General Fang Liu on 19^th February 2019 in Montréal.

Following the presentation, High Commissioner Girihagama briefed Secretary General Liu on the proactive role played by Sri Lanka as a member state, the progress made and the measures that are underway in Sri Lanka to give effect to international conventions in the area of civil aviation to which Sri Lanka is a signatory.

The High Commissioner also apprised the Secretary General on the ICAO approved training programmes that Sri Lanka has planned to conduct in the months to come. He assured the Secretary General of Sri Lanka’s continued active participation in Regional Cooperative programmes which are conducted under the auspices of ICAO and added that Sri Lanka looks forward to further strengthening its ties with ICAO.

Secretary General Liu thanked the Government of Sri Lanka for its cooperation and assured the support of ICAO for programmes planned by Sri Lanka. Other areas of mutual interests were also discussed.

The ICAO is a UN specialized agency, established in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention). ICAO works with the Convention’s 192 Member States and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector.

 Sri Lanka High Commission

Ottawa

20^th February 2019

Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn have agreed to strengthen and expand bilateral relations into new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation, leading to the celebration of the establishment of 50 years of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Luxembourg in 2022.

This understanding was reached yesterday (Friday, 09 July, 2021) during a video call between the two Ministers, as a follow up to Minister Asselborn’s official visit to Sri Lanka in January 2020, the first visit by a Luxembourg Foreign Minister to Sri Lanka. The two Ministers also agreed to celebrate this landmark anniversary next year in both countries in a fitting manner.

During their cordial discussion, both Ministers reviewed bilateral relations and underscored the importance of enhanced economic cooperation, especially in the financial sector with a focus on sustainable and green bond financing, trade & investment, air connectivity, employment, and education.

Minister Gunawardena briefed his Luxembourg counterpart on Sri Lanka’s progress in reconciliation, international assistance for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and cooperation with multilateral institutions, among other matters of mutual interest.

Foreign Ministry

Colombo

10 July, 2021

(https://mfa.gov.lk/fm-luxembourg-fm/)