Sri Lankan president arrives in Dhaka

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena arrived in Dhaka on Thursday on a three-day official visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

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

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

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.

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.