Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama is in Bangladesh to hand over the invitation to the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed to the forthcoming SAARC Summit in Colombo. He also handed over the invitation to his counterpart Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury to the Council of Ministers Meeting in Colombo.

The Bangladesh Chief Advisor upon receiving the invitation said that he was looking forward to attending the Summit and expressed his best wishes to Sri Lanka for a successful Summit in Colombo.

Minister Bogollagama while appreciating the initiatives taken at the 13th SAARC Summit in Dhaka and the progress made since the 14th SAARC Summit said that the continuity will be the guiding principle of the 15th SAARC Summit, to consolidate the benefits so far achieved in order to augment the process towards realizing the objectives of SAARC. He also informed the Chief Advisor that Sri Lanka is interested in focusing on global issues such as Energy and Food crises, besides the ongoing regional issues, during the Summit. The Chief Advisor shared his views on the need to have a plan of action to addressed those emerging global issues effectively, in the region. He also remarked that the theme adopted for the Colombo Summit, “SAARC: Partnership for our People” is most appropriate and well thought out one, towards reaching the ultimate goal of integrating the peoples of South Asia.

The Minister also discussed with Bangladesh Advisor for Foreign Affairs a wide range of issues of bilateral and regional interest, including air connectivity and economic cooperation. Considering the growing interest shown by the international community to associate with SAARC, the two Ministers exchanged views on adopting comprehensive guidelines for Observers in SAARC, during the Summit.

The Foreign Minister if scheduled to leave for Bhutan today.