Pakistan–Sri Lanka relations refer to bilateral relations between

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

and Sri Lanka. Both countries are located in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

. The earliest proper diplomatic and trade contacts between Pakistan (previously the

Dominion of Pakistan Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...

) and Sri Lanka (previously the

Dominion of Ceylon Between 1948 and 1972, Ceylon The Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947 uses the name "Ceylon" for the new dominion; nowhere does that Act use the term "Dominion of Ceylon", which although sometimes used was not the official name. was an independent ...

) date back as early as 1948. In 2013, the then prime minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

said that there were strong bonds of friendship between the two countries. There is a Pakistani High Commission in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, and a Sri Lankan High Commission in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

Country Comparison

History

The relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka date back to the formative years of the two countries. The two countries laid the foundation of their friendship in 1948 when Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

DS Senanayake Don Stephen Senanayake ( si, දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක,; ta, டி. எஸ். சேனநாயக்கா; 21 October 1884 – 22 March 1952) was a Ceylonese statesman. He was the first Prime Min ...

visited

. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are both Commonwealth republics.

Diplomatic Relations

Sri Lanka avoided joining the boycott of the

19th SAARC summit The 19th SAARC summit was a scheduled diplomatic conference which was originally planned to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 15–19 November 2016, but got cancelled after an attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir. The summit was to be attend ...

that was scheduled to be held in November 2016 in Islamabad, Pakistan. However a media release by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs which said it regrets that the prevailing environment in the region was not conducive for holding the SAARC summit was false interpreted by Indian media as not attending the summit. But the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera debunked the claims saying that General Provisions of the Charter of SAARC results in the summit being cancelled even if one country does not attend thus there was no summit for Sri Lanka to attend and Sri Lanka will attend the summit whenever it will be held.

Economic relations

On February 12, 2012, a credit line for US$200 million was one of three Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The MoUs were signed during

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s official visit to Pakistan, on the invitation of

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakist ...

. In 2012,

Sri Lankan Airlines SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched ...

invited

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines ( ur, ; abbreviated PIA, ur, ) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. It ...

to operate more flights to Sri Lanka.

Trade and investment

Defense Cooperation

On January 16, 2018, Pakistani Army Chief,

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Qamar Javed Bajwa General Qamar Javed Bajwa ( ur, ; born 11 November 1960) is a retired Pakistani army general who served as the tenth Chief of the Army Staff of Pakistan from 29 November 2016 to 29 November 2022. In 2018 he was ranked 68th in the ''Forbes' ...

reached Sri Lanka on a two-day official visit on the invitation from his counterpart. During his visit to Sri Lanka in February 2021, PM Imran Khan offered a $50 million line of credit to Sri Lanka for defence purchases.

Military Assistance & Training

Pakistan has engaged Sri Lanka by providing training to its military officers, included Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and also military exercises. Pakistan offered training to Sri Lanka for intelligence gathering. Apart from traditional military assistance to Sri Lanka, Pakistan has also offered to train Sri Lanka Police and State Intelligence Service (SIS) officers. Pakistan over the years has provided military munitions and systems to assist Sri Lanka in its Civil War with the LTTE.

Growing ties

In 2009, shortly after the defeat of the

Tamil Tiger The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

rebels in Sri Lanka,

congratulated Sri Lanka and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hussein A. Bhaila of Sri Lanka called Pakistan a true friend saying:

"The government and the people of Sri Lanka have considered Pakistan as a true friend of Sri Lanka, which has always stood by it in times of need..."

Nuclear energy deal

In April, 2015 Sri Lanka signed a nuclear energy deal with Pakistan.

Agriculture

In January 2018, amid a shortage of fertilizer in Sri Lanka, President of Sri Lanka

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

requested Pakistan for assistance. Though the Pakistani government had banned fertilizer exports, Pakistan agreed to send 41,000 metric tons of fertilizer immediately. Following concerns raised about the scarcity of fertilizer in Sri Lanka, the President of Sri Lanka had contacted

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pa ...

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Shahid Khaqan Abbasi ( ur, ; born 27 December 1958) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 21st prime minister of Pakistan from August 2017 to May 2018. Abbasi is the senior vice president of the Pakiatan Muslim League ...

requesting assistance to find a long-lasting solution to the crisis. Islamabad informed him that it would take steps to export more than 75,000 metric tons of fertilizer to Colombo in the future. Later, President of Sri Lanka

expressed his gratitude towards the

and the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

for timely provision of fertilizer to Sri Lanka to curb the shortage. Pakistan is to establish a modern

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

Polonnaruwa District Polonnaruwa District ( si, පොළොන්නරුව දිස්ත්‍රික්කය; ta, பொலன்னறுவை மாவட்டம்) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of ...

in North Central Sri Lanka which is the home district of the Sri Lankan President

. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Pakistan is among three countries in the Asia and Pacific region which are the world's top dairy producers. A high level Pakistani dairy experts team will be visiting

to carry out a feasibility study.

Culture

In June 2011, Pakistan presented the Government of Sri Lanka with a number of

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

relics from Pakistan's past. A former Pakistan High Commissioner, Seema Ilahi Baloch, also sponsored the construction of a school in Gampala District.

Education

Pakistan has offered scholarships to Sri Lankan students to pursue the subjects of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and engineering. The scholarships are granted under the Pakistan Technical Assistance Programme (PTAP).

Health

In 2011, the Government of Sri Lanka gave medicines and staff to Punjab. A group of 12 doctors from Sri Lanka came to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

to assist. Pakistan thanked Sri Lanka for its assistance in containing an outbreak of dengue fever in the country last year.

Sports

In October 2017, Sri Lanka Cricket

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

became the first major international team to arrive in

after the terrorist attack in 2009

References

External links

Pakistan Sri Lanka Business Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakistan-Sri Lanka relations Sri Lanka Bilateral relations of Sri Lanka Pakistan and the Commonwealth of Nations Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth of Nations