SL president arrives today

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena arrives in Dhaka today on a three-day state visit which is expected to further expand the cordial and cooperative relations between the two countries and take the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka ties to a new height.

The visit will see signing of at least 10 bilateral agreements and memorandum of understanding (MoU) in key areas of agriculture, coastal shipping, information and communication technology, and cooperation between the media of the two countries, foreign services and central banks.

“We expect that the visit will expand ties between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and create new avenues of cooperation,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam told journalists at a press conference at the foreign ministry yesterday.

A Sri Lankan Airlines flight carrying President Sirisena and his 73-member entourage comprising ministers, state ministers, deputy ministers and business community members will land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:30am.

President Abdul Hamid will receive his Lankan counterpart at the airport. A 21-gun salute will be fired in the air to welcome the Sri Lankan dignitaries.

During his visit, Sirisena will hold talks with the prime minister and the president. The foreign minister, health minister, the Speaker and the Opposition Leader will also call on the Sri Lankan president.

This is Sirisena's first official visit to Bangladesh since he was elected president in January 2015. He, however, visited Bangladesh in 2013 and 2014 as the minister of health of Sri Lanka.

Diplomatic sources in Colombo told The Daily Star that the Sri Lankan president would hold extensive bilateral discussions regarding ways to strengthen cooperation in the fields of maritime, education, tourism, fisheries and health as well as ways to promote investment between the two countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hold official talks with President Sirisena at the Prime Minister's Office tomorrow morning which will be followed by signing of agreements and MoUs.

President Hamid will host a state banquet in honour of the Sri Lankan president at the Bangabhaban tomorrow evening.

As per the programme schedule, the Lankan president will be taken to Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel where he will be staying. In the afternoon, he will visit the National Martyrs' Monument in Savar to pay respect to the martyrs of Liberation War.

From Savar, he will visit the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi Road 32 to pay homage to the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

President Sirisena will address an economic dialogue Saturday morning to be attended by Bangladesh and Sri Lankan business and industry representatives.

He is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Saturday at 1:00pm by a Sri Lankan Airlines flight. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali will see him off at the airport.