The Sri Lankan president in Islamabad
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Pakistan has resulted in the two countries agreeing to build a mutually beneficial economic and trade partnership, adding a new dimension to their relationship which was earlier focused on defence and security cooperation.
Both sides called for stepping up efforts to fully realise the potential of Free Trade Agreement by enhancing bilateral trade to $2 billion mark over the next three years. In their meeting on Friday, President Zardari and his Sri Lankan counterpart discussed a number of steps for increasing the volume of trade, including proposals for a currency swap arrangements and establishment of direct shipping service between the two countries.
President Zardari was right in that the currency swap proposal can go a long way in providing incentives to business houses in Pakistan and Sri Lanka to actively explore and enhance business linkages using local currencies for trade. He also urged the business community and chambers of commerce of the two countries to benefit from each other’s potential in finance and banking sector, science and technology, agriculture and other areas.
The Sri Lankan leadership acknowledges the support extended by Pakistan in the past in curbing terrorism on its soil and is now eager to carry forward the mutual relationship beyond defence and security needs. Both sides expressed satisfaction on the level of cooperation they have been demonstrating at various multilateral forums on important regional and global issues. It shows the consistency and commonality of views they share.
There is no doubt that Islamabad and Colombo have always stood together on matters concerning their security and have also enjoyed special bonds of affinity as rightly pointed out by Mr Zardari in his meeting with Mr Rajapaksa. It is, however, heartening to see the two leaders focus more on bolstering bilateral trade which indicates that they have realised that enhanced economic cooperation should remain a key theme of their foreign policy.
