Skip to main content

Philippines, Sri Lanka forging deal

The government of Sri Lanka may soon finalize an agreement with Philippine civil aviation authorities to begin commercial flights from Sri Lanka to the Philippines via Sri Lankan airlines, Philippine media reports.

This was relayed by Sri Lankan Ambassador Nawalage Bennet Cooray, who called on the PhilippineVice President Jejomar C. Binay at the Coconut Palace in Pasay City.

The ambassador said the Sri Lankan government is hopeful that, once in place, the flights will pave the way for stronger economic ties between the two countries.

There are currently no direct flights between the two countries.

Under the new deal, the flights between Manila and the Sri Lankan capital Colombo will reportedly be increased to four from two a week.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne also visited Binay early this year during Wesak.

Binay said the two countries could share experiences especially on insurgency problem.

He noted that the Philippines could learn from Sri Lanka on how its government handled “what seemed to be an impossible dream in the past,” referring to the downfall of the rebel group Tamil Tigers in 2009 after decades of battle against the Sri Lankan government.

Diplomatic relations were established between Sri Lanka and the Philippines in 1951 with the former opening a legation in Colombo.

The South Asian island nation, formerly known as Ceylon, is host to 400-500 skilled and semi-skilled Filipino workers.

According to the Commission on Overseas Filipinos, there were 1,201 Filipinos in Sri Lanka as of 2009, the Manila Bulletin reports.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

STUDENTS SURROUND ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING AT J’PURA

A tense situation has broken out at the Jayawardenapura University after a group of students surrounded an administrative building. The students have reportedly surrounded Vice Chancellor N.L.A. Karunaratna ’ s office building following an announcement that he will not be issuing Mahapola scholarships.

Ukrainians injured as police dismantle Kiev 'tent city'

At least 10 demonstrators have been injured in clashes with Ukrainian police and another 100 detained in the capital Kiev after authorities began dismantling a makeshift "tent city" protesting against corruption. The tent city was set up in October by supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia who has become an opposition politician in Ukraine. Saakashvili, a critic of corruption in Ukraine, was deported to Poland in February. He said he was "kidnapped" by Ukrainian authorities and removed from the country against his will. Andriy Kryshchneko, police chief of police, said at the camp on Saturday that "two court decisions" allowed authorities to search and dismantle the camp. Police said that explosives and other weapons were found at the scene

VIDEO: FONSEKA FOUND GUILTY; SENTENCED TO 3 YEARS

Sarath Fonseka was found guilty by a divided decision in the case regarding the ‘White Flag’ statement and sentenced to 3 years in prison by the Colombo High Court today (November 18). The verdict divided 2:1 was given by the High Court bench, headed by Judge Deepali Wijesundara and comprising Judges DMPD Waraweva and Zulfiqar Razin. Justice Waraweva giving his judgment deliberated that Fonseka was not guilty on all three charges while Justice Wijesundara and Rashim found Fonseka guilty of the first charge, of inciting violence through his statement, and found him not guilty on the second and third charges. Sarath Fonseka, who is currently serving a 30-month jail term imposed by a court martial, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs.5,000. The former Army Commander was accused of inciting violence by, in an interview given to the Sunday Leader, alleging that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave an illegal order not to accommodate any LTTE cadres attempting to...