Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal met on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly to discuss expanding cooperation between their two countries.

President Wickremesinghe stated that Sri Lanka is keen to expand its longstanding relationship with Nepal into a dynamic political, trade and business partnership by diversifying the areas of cooperation. He stated that the inaugural session of the Sri Lanka – Nepal Joint Commission that is scheduled to be held at the end of the year in Kathmandu this year, would be an important step.

Prime Minister Dahal stated that there is a close understanding and cooperation between the two countries and expressed confidence that this will be further strengthened in the coming years. The people of Nepal and Sri Lanka have many commonalities, particularly in religion and culture.

Both sides looked forward to enhancing connectivity between Sri Lanka and Nepal and explored avenues on interconnecting the tourism sectors of the two countries. They both assented that there is potential to increase economic cooperation between the two countries by increasing trade and investment as well as enhancing people to people contact through the provision of education opportunities. Further strengthening cooperation in the multilateral fora was also discussed.

The meeting between President Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dahal is a positive sign of the growing relationship between Sri Lanka and Nepal. The two countries have a lot to offer each other, and increased cooperation can benefit both sides.