Bamiyan Buddha statues, the focal point of PM's visit to Pakistan
[14 Mar 2001]

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake left for Pakistan yesterday, for discussions on preserving the remaining artefacts and priceless Buddhist statues in Afghanistan.

He is expected to express Sri Lanka's willingness to procure the remaining statues in Afghanistan. Sri Lanka has been in constant contact with the Pakistan Government regarding the fate of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan after the ruling Taliban issued an edict and began destroying some of the world’s most famed pre-islamic religious symbols.

The Prime Minister who is also the Minister of Plantation Industries, is due to hold talks with the Pakistan Government, the export of tea, grown and manufactured by the Tea Small Holdings Development Authority. The tea deal is seen as a significant issue since the amount of tea exports to Pakistan had dropped to 3 million kilos from 80 million kilos in the 1970s.

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