Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today pledged assistance for Sri Lanka to develop counter-narcotic capabilities and maritime security operations to fight transnational crimes including human smuggling and drug trafficking.
The Australian Premier, who arrived in the island Wednesday morning met with the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat and held bilateral discussions on a range of issues.
Commending the Sri Lankan President for the “great reconciliation program undertaken by the Sri Lankan government”, Mr. Turnbull thanked the President for excellent cooperation extended to fight transnational crimes including human smuggling and drug trafficking.
Submit Your Press Release
Get your company news, announcements, launches, appointments and events in front of a wider audience.
President Sirisena thanked the Australian Premier for continuous assistance provided to Sri Lanka’s development activities and support extended at international forums. He made a special mention about the field of drugs and narcotics and said that illegal drugs are a major problem for Sri Lanka. He pointed out that because Sri Lanka is an island, many international narcotic cartels use this country as a hub for smuggling activities. He thanked Australia for assisting Sri Lanka’s costal security operations by providing fast naval patrol crafts in the last few years.
Australian Premier assuring assistance to further develop Sri Lanka’s counter-narcotic capabilities said Australia would gift three STAB craft vessels for Coast Guard operations. “They are fast craft and very useful for coastal operations,” he said.
Furthermore, Australia will assist the National Defense College (NDC) to be set up shortly in Sri Lanka. Mr. Turnbull said his government would depute a senior military officer for two years to provide administrative and curriculum expertise and to deliver select course modules to the NDC.
President Sirisena thanked the Australian Prime Minister for the new trade and investment agreement which would further enhance trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. Prime Minister Turnbull and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe witnessed signing of a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement today at the Temple Trees.
President Sirisena thanked Premier Turnbull for paying this visit to Sri Lanka, though the visit was a very brief one.
