Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed to jointly work on negotiating debt relief, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said yesterday, calling on international organisations to support poor countries to tackle economic challenges worsened by the pandemic.
Khan, who arrived in SL last afternoon for a two-day visit, was welcomed by his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Tuesday (23).
The two Prime Ministers held bilateral discussions at Temple Trees and issued a joint statement to the media following their meeting. Khan also invited Rajapaksa to visit Pakistan.
“The two leaders discussed how the developed countries can help the developing world. The developed world should not be insular, they must realise this is a problem that has affected everyone, but specifically it has hit the poor countries more and poor in the poor countries much more. So, we have discussed how we can jointly work on poor countries getting debt relief,” Pakistan Premier Imran Khan told reporters.
He pointed out that even though Pakistan came up with the biggest stimulus package in its history of USD 8 billion, it was minute compared to the US package of nearly USD 3 trillion.
“So, this is the discrepancy. The coronavirus has exposed this huge disparity in the world and that is why I feel global organisations like the UN should step in and look after the countries that have taken a real beating because of COVID-19,” he said.
Pointing out that both Sri Lanka and Pakistan were part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he encouraged stronger trade between the two countries as it would give Sri Lanka connectivity to Central Asia via the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The two countries also inked five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) targeted at improving bilateral economic and social cooperation.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that during bilateral discussions, Prime Minister Khan agreed to work closely to enhance bilateral cooperation in the economic sector and several other areas including trade, investment, science and technology, defence and education.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said that the two countries also agreed to pursue opportunities within the Sri Lanka-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The talks also focused on important regional and international issues as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both countries also agreed to further engagement in the tourism and aviation sectors.
"Sri Lanka is grateful to Pakistan for opening travel corridors to visit ancient Buddhist heritage sites in Pakistan,” Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa added.
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