SAARC secretary general calls on Sri Lanka president

The secretary general of  South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), ambassador Golam Sarwar paid a courtesy call on the president of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, at the president secretariat in Colombo on Wednesday.

As part of his ongoing visit to the member states, the SAARC secretary general is currently on an introductory consultations visit to Sri Lanka, stated a press release.

President Wickremesinghe welcomed ambassador Sarwar and congratulated him on assuming charge as the 15th secretary general of SAARC.

Secretary general Sarwar appreciated Sri Lanka's persistent support of the SAARC process since its establishment in December 1985.

He also conveyed confidence in receiving continued support and guidance from Sri Lanka to further strengthen the SAARC process.

The secretary general apprised the president of Sri Lanka about current activities of SAARC and its challenges and sought Sri Lanka’s support in re-energising the SAARC process.

In briefing on the recent development of holding the governing board meetings of all the SAARC regional centers and specialised bodies, which lead to the holding of Programming Committee meeting at the SAARC Secretariat in March this year, secretary general Sarwar expressed his hopes to convene higher level meetings of the chartered bodies in consultations with the SAARC chair Nepal at the earliest possible.

President Wickremesinghe appreciated the initiatives of SAARC secretary general and requested him to consider taking further steps to revitalise the regional bloc, emphasising that SAARC embodies the hopes and aspirations of its peoples and countries in the region for prosperity.

Upon the secretary general's request, he agreed to allocate a permanent venue to the SAARC cultural centre in Colombo that aligns with the provisions outlined in the headquarters agreement signed between the centre and Sri Lanka.

President Wickremesinghe reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to SAARC and to extend every possible support to materialise the goals of SAARC to achieve a sustainable and integrated development in the region through cooperation under the SAARC process.