I take this opportunity to convey my sincere good wishes for Your Excellency’s continued good health, happiness and success.

Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka

Excellency,

I firmly believe that the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation that so happily exist between Sri Lanka and Australia will continue to grow for the mutual benefit of our two countries and peoples in the years to come.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka

Your Excellency,

On behalf of the Government and people of Sri Lanka, I wish to convey my condolences on the passing away of H.E. Rashidi Mfaume Kawawa, the former First Vice-President and the First Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, on 31st December 2009.

A distinguished leader in Africa, the late Kawawa contributed to the development of his country soon after independence and the expansion of regional cooperation. His demise is an irreparable loss, and he will be missed by the people of Tanzania and its friends in the years to come. Please convey my deepest sympathies to members of the late Kawawa’s family.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Excellency,

It is my fervent belief that the warm and friendly relations existing between our two countries will be further strengthened and expanded during your tenure of office. I take this opportunity to assure you of Sri Lanka’s continued goodwill and support for peace and prosperity of the people of Jordan Under your premiership

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

The Commonwealth Summits are held every two years.2009 Summit was attended by 49 countries out of membership of 53. 34 countries were represented by their Heads of State or Government. Queen Elizabeth is considered the Head of Commonwealth

The Sri Lanka delegation to 2009 Summit was led by Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka. Speaking on the occasion of Sri Lanka being selected as venue for 2013 Summit Mr. Wickramanayaka thanked the Commonwealth leaders for their support .He told them that a peaceful atmosphere was present in Sri Lanka which was conducive to hold the Summit.Sri Lanka is a member of the Commonwealth since its inception in 1949.Many Commonwealth leaders attending the Summit congratulated the Prime Minister after the meeting.

Among the many issues discussed at the Summit, special attention was paid to the issue of climate change in view of the forthcoming UN Conference on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen in December 2009.The Commonwealth leaders adopted a Declaration on Climate Change at Port of Spain. Speaking on climate change and its impact on developing countries the Prime Minister stressed the need to have political will to implement decisions taken at climate summits.

The Prime Minister met several leaders on the sidelines of the Summit and held talks on bilateral relations between those countries and Sri Lanka.

Rwanda was admitted to the Commonwealth as 54th member and the next Summit will be held in Australia.

Excellency,

It gives me great pleasure to extend to you my warm greetings and best wishes on your appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon.

Your election to this high office is recognition of your wise leadership to overcome challenges and to provide a new vision for the future of Lebanon.

I have no doubt that under your stewardship; the Government of Lebanon will meet the aspirations of the people for peace, economic prosperity and social stability

Please accept, Excellency, my sincere wishes for your good health, happiness and personal well-being

Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka

The delegation was visiting Sri Lanka to attend the 15th Joint Meeting of Japan-Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka - Japan Business Co-operation Committees which was being convened in Colombo after a lapse of some years.

Mr. Fujita stated that he was happy to visit Sri Lanka with a business delegation at this time when peace had been restored in the country. The Joint Meeting of the Business Co-operation Committees gave the Japanese delegation an opportunity to explore new investment and business opportunities in the country. He further said that Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean and the proximity to the emerging mega market in India would encourage Japan investors to have new look at Sri Lanka as peace had been restored.

The Prime Minister said that the Sri Lanka would welcome new Japan investment and explained the areas where new foreign investment would be welcome. He in particular mentioned dairy/livestock development, agriculture and tourism as areas where foreign investment would be welcome.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova

Your Excellency,

I have pleasure in extending to Your Excellency my warm congratulation and best wishes on your appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova.

I am confident that bilateral relations between our two friendly countries will be further enhanced and strengthened for the well-being of our people during your term of office.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration

Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka

Mr. Liu Qibao informed the Prime Minister that he was very happy to visit Sri Lanka. China and Sri Lanka had been very close friends for many centuries. He complimented the government of Sri Lanka for the victory over LTTE terrorism. His believed that the defeat of terrorism would provide space for rapid development. He briefed the Prime Minister of economic development plans in China and the progress achieved by the Sichuan Provincial Government in restoration and rehabilitation following the earthquake in 2008. Mr. Liu Qibao informed the Prime Minister that his Province would be able to provide assistance in rehabilitation and reconstruction of areas affected by LTTE terrorism based on their experiences in rehabilitating devastated areas.

He re-called the visits under taken by Prime Minister Wickramanayaka to the Sichuan Province in 2008 and 2009. He was of the view that there was great potential for economic and trade cooperation between Sri Lanka and Sichuan Province. The Sichuan Province would be able to help in restoration of infrastructural facilities particularly in power generation.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka thanked delegation for the visit undertaken. He explained to the delegation of historical connections between Sri Lanka and China and the role played by Buddhism to promote relations between the two countries. He told the delegation that relations between the two countries had never been stronger as at present and thanked Chinese government for its involvement in many important projects in Sri Lanka. He also thanked China for assistance given for demining operations in the North.

The Delegation re-called the visit of Prime Minister to the Yunnan Province in October last year and the important address made by him before the academic staff and students of the Yunnan University of Nationalities. The delegation briefed the Hon. Prime Minister on the activities undertaken by the University since his visit last year to promote relations between Sri Lanka and the University.

The delegation was visiting Sri Lanka for discussions with the authorities of Kelaniya University on having stronger academic links. The delegation told Prime Minister that the Confucius center at the Kelaniya University was progressing well. The Yunnan University has already offered some scholarships to Students from Sri Lanka as promised by the University authorities to the Prime Minister during his visit and it has been decides to establish a Chair to promote studies in Sinhala language. The delegation gave an assurance to the Prime Minister that the University would take further steps to promote academic links with Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister thanked the delegation for the visit and expressed the hope that there would be more visits from Yunnan Province to Sri Lanka as there was scope for promoting stronger links between the Province and Sri Lanka.

The delegation informed the Prime Minister that the Governor of Yunnan Province would visit Sri Lanka with a high powered delegation next year.

The land for a Pilgrims Rest close to the famous temples was originally donated to Sri Lanka Buddhists by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Nehru, but the buildings put up were not properly maintained and went into disuse. It became necessary to put up a new Pilgrims Rest with modern facilities for the benefit of Buddhists visiting Sanchi. There are no other proper accommodation facilities in the proximity of the stupas.The new Building was setup by the Ministry of Urban Development and Sacred Area Development with close cooperation of the Mahabodhi Society of Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Wickramanayaka in his speech at the opening ceremony-he delivered the initial part of his speech in Sinhala-explained that Buddhist philosophy did not teach ill will or hatred towards anyone. "The Buddhists envisage a world where everyone irrespective of race, caste or creed could live in peace and harmony as brothers and sisters. It was a basic teaching of Buddhism which believes in ahimsa ,metta and karuna" He further said that Sri Lanka was recently able to overcome a severe terrorist threat after 25 years of bloody conflict which saw the loss of more than 90,000 lives. The Prime Minister gave a pledge on behalf of the government of Sri Lanka that it would continue to further develop facilities at Sanchi which is a world renowned Buddhist pilgrim centre.

Shri Shivaraj Singh Chauhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh called on the Indian officials present at the ceremony to identify a suitable location in the vicinity of Sanchi to establish a University for research on Buddhism. He also emphasized on the need to have an airport to facilitate the pilgrims and tourists visiting Sanchi with direct landings and directed the officials to find a suitable location. He recalled the long association between Sri Lanka and Sanchi going back to Asoka’s time and Arahat Mahinda.He also mentioned that terrorism had affected many countries including India and Sri Lanka.He congratulated Sri Lanka for its successful fight against the scourge of terrorism. He paid tribute to former Prime Ministers of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi who were victims of terrorism. He recalled that the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi fell on the same day as the ceremony.

Prime Minister Wickramanayaka was significant as few Sri Lanka leaders have visited the Sanchi in the past. Most notable visitors in the past were the late Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike and Governor General the late Mr. William Gopallawa.

Ven. Banagala Upatissa, President of Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society and Chief Incumbent of Chaityagiri Vihara recalled his association with Sanchi going back to 1962 and thanked all who cooperated with the Mahabodhi Society in putting up the Sanchi Vandan Niketan.

Prime Minster during his stay in India called on the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Rameshwar Thakur, at the Raj Bavan in Bhopal.

Your Excellency,

It is a great pleasure to extend to Your Excellency, on behalf of the Government and People of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and my own, warm felicitations and sincere good wishes on your appointment as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic.

Our bilateral ties are founded on shared values and I look forward to close engagement with Your Excellency to further develop and strengthen the excellent bilateral relations and cooperation that exists between the two countries,for the betterment of our peoples.

Please accept, Excellency, my best wishes for every success in the high office to which you have been appointed, and also for your good health, happiness and personal well-being.

Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

Your Excellency,

On the happy occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Singapore, I Wish to extend my warm greeting and best wishes to Your Excellency and through you to the Government and the people of Singapore.

I am most confident that the close and mutually beneficial relations our two countries have maintained over the past several decades, would further be enhanced in the future, thus bringing greater benefit to our people.

Please accept, Your Excellency, my best wishes for your good health and personal well-being.

Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka

Prime Minister extended a warm welcome to the delegation and thanked them for accepting his invitation to visit Sri Lanka with a business delegation. He was happy to visit Yunnan Province last year and saw for himself the opportunities available for developing closer relations between Sri Lanka and Yunnan Province as there were many similarities. He said that Sri Lanka remained grateful to China for assistance extended to us both politically and in international forums when Sri Lanka faced difficulties. He was therefore happy to welcome the delegation coming from China as genuine friends and of course as personal friends in view of personal contacts established by him during his visit to the Province. He recalled that he visited China on three occasions during which he experienced the goodwill and friendship of the Chinese people towards Sri Lanka.He also recalled that President Rajapakasa had also visited China three times and had meetings with Chinese leaders including President Hu Jintao on all occasions.

He explained that Sri Lanka had recently embarked on a new chapter in its history and after the defeat of terrorism Sri Lanka was now poised to recover the lost grounds, economically, for nearly three decades. He explained that rebuilding the entire country, not only the affected provinces and development was a bigger challenge faced by the country now. He said tourism was one area which would make a quick recovery and said Sri Lanka welcomed investment in tourism among other areas.

Mr.Geo Feng Vice Governor of the Yunnan Province thanked the Prime Minister for receiving them and making excellent arrangements for their stay in Sri Lanka.He explained to the Prime Minister that of all Provinces of China ,Yunnan was closest to Sri Lanka both geographically and culturally and therefore they would like to promote closer economic links with Sri Lanka.He was of the view that Prime Minister’s visit last year opened a new chapter in relations between his Province and Sri Lanka.He said that it was necessary to have more visits of his nature on both directions to promote relations and noted that a direct air link between Yunnan and Sri Lanka would help the process. He invited the Prime Minister to visit Yunnan Province again.

Mr. Wickramanayaka while welcoming the delegation observed that they were visiting Sri Lanka at a momentous period in country’s history. He explained to the Bahrain Premier and his delegation that Sri Lanka was successful in defeating the menace of terrorism that bedeviled the country nearly three decades.Sri Lanka now faced a bigger and more formidable challenge in rebuilding the country devastated by terrorism and recover the lost ground by developing the economy.Sri Lanka’s economy suffered immensely and its tourism industry was affected particularly by terrorism. The Prime Minister emphasized that there was great potential in expanding and improving Sri Lanka’s tourist sector and Sri Lanka would welcome foreign investment in this area. There were already offers of investing in Sri Lanka’s hospitality sector from many foreign investors and Sri Lanka would certainly welcome investment in this sector from friendly Bahrain. There was also potential for investing in gem and jewellery sector which is well developed in Sri Lanka.He added that there was a need to have more and more exchanges of visit of this nature to solidify the close friendship between the two countries.

The Prime Minister also explained the country was now making much progress in economic terms with the defeat of terrorism and with restoration of agricultural production in the North and East. The country was now self sufficient in rice and with the bumper crop expected from the North and East there would be surplus for export.

The Prime Minister took the opportunity to thank Bahrain for its principled stand in supporting Sri Lanka in international forums and for understanding the problems faced by Sri Lanka in their proper perspectives. He suggested that the two countries should work on developing more direct air links between the two countries to promote tourism as well as people to people contacts.

The Bahrain Prime Minister in response thanked Mr. Wickramanayaka for the warm welcome accorded to him and his delegation and said he was happy to be in Sri Lanka for his second visit. He had observed that the landscape in Colombo had changed vastly since his earlier visit.

He assured the Prime Minister Wickramanayaka that his country would extend assistance to Sri Lanka with open arms to rebuild and develop its economy. He would also request his friends in the Gulf to visit this beautiful country and help Sri Lanka when it had launched a massive reconstruction programme.

The visiting Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the contribution made by the Sri Lankan community in Bahrain in socio- economic development of his country. He agreed of the need to have more and more visits of this nature in both directions and also the need to develop cultural contacts. He had seen TV programmes on the Kandy pageant and hoped to visit again to see that well known cultural festival. In this context he invited the Sri Lanka Prime Minister to undertake a visit to see for himself the developments in his country.

He agreed fully with the Sri Lanka Prime Minister of the need to promote economic cooperation between the two countries and he would certainly encourage Bahraini investment in Sri Lanka. A member of the Bahraini delegation added investment should be a two way process and Sri Lanka with its highly developed apparel sector could perhaps consider in investing in this sector in Bahrain to benefit from the FTA signed with USA .The Bahrain Prime Minister noted that there was greater potential for increasing exports from Sri Lanka to Bahrain and mentioned that there was more potential to export green plants and fresh fruits from Sri Lanka.He agreed of the need to promote more direct air connections between the two countries and explained that air links were necessary to promote not only tourism but also trade. He was pleased to hear that Sri Lanka was self sufficient in rice and would also be able to export as well shortly. He said that Bahrain had some arrangements with the Philippines and Thailand to buy rice in its strategy for food security and would certainly explore whether that programme could be extended to include Sri Lanka as well.

Prime Minister thanked his Bahraini counterpart for the invitation extended and said that he looked forward to visiting Bahrain.

Sri Lanka and Uganda enjoy friendly relations, both countries being members of the Commonwealth and Non Aligned Movement. Relations between Sri Lanka and the East African country go back to the colonial period when some royal and noble families in Uganda sent their children to Sri Lanka for their education. The countries have both suffered in recent times from the scourge of terrorism

President Museveni and Prime Minister Wickramanayaka had a cordial exchange of views on bilateral relations, and discussed new areas of cooperation especially in the economic field.Mr Wickramanayaka briefed the Ugandan President of the recent developments in Sri Lanka particularly the successful campaign against terrorism which was a menace to the country for nearly thirty years. President Museveni complimented the government and people of Sri Lanka for their remarkable victory over a terrorist movement which was regarded as one of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world.

The President of Uganda has accepted an invitation extended by President Rajapaksa to undertake a state visit to Sri Lanka.This was conveyed to Mr. Wickramanayaka by the Ugandan President during the talks. The visit will provide an excellent opportunity for the two countries to discuss and decide on a plan of action to expand the relations between the two countries.

A modern fully equipped swimming pool at the school was declared open by Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka on 29th june in the presence of a large crowd including students of the school and their parents. The pool built at a cost of 21.5 million rupees was a donation made by the most Venerable Dr.Kyuse Enshinjoh, the founder priest of Nenbutshusu Buddhist sect of Japan. Dfor building the pool was made to Mr. Wickramanayaka when he attended the 5th World Buddhist Summit held in Kobe ,Japan in November last year. Student from other school in the area will be able to use the facilities at the pool for their training.

The Prime Minister speaking on the occasion said that he was beholden to the Venerable Japanese Buddhist who was a good friend of Sri Lanka for making a generous donation for the construction of a swimming pool in his electorate. He said when he promised an ultra modern swimming pool for the premier educational institute in Kalutara District many people did not take him seriously and pooh- poohed the proposal. It was considered a dream but he was able to build a pool within a recorded period of less than six months. He described Taxila college as a gem in Raigam Korale in education. Mr. Vidura Wickramanayka, Provincial Council Member and Chief Organizer of SLFP in Horana and the Principal of the school also addressed the gathering.

The delegation was led by Rev Sudham Sudhammo who is the President of the Buddhist Federation, New South Wales in Australia which is affiliated to Dammakaya Foundation in Thailand. The Dhammakaya Foundation maintains close relations with Sri Lanka and last year many temples in Sri Lanka received Thai Buddha images donated by the Foundation. The delegation is visiting Sri Lanka to study old Buddhist manuscripts for a research project undertaken by the Foundation.

The Prime Minister offered Dana to Thai Buddhist monks at his Office prior to his discussions with the delegation.

I congratulate you on your assuming duties as Prime Minister of India for a second consecutive term, following the popular mandate received by your party at the recent general election.

Sri Lanka and India have always enjoyed a close multifaceted relationship. We have long historical and cultural ties. Our two countries share common values and common interests. In recent times there have been notable developments in our trade and economic links which have benefited both countries. I am confident that these positive trends will continue to grow in your new term of office. I look forward to working closely with you in further promoting relations between our two countries.

Please accept, Your Excellency, my best wishes for your good health and personal well-being and for the prosperity of the people of India.

Yours sincerely,