MOHAMMED RASOOLDEEN
COLOMBO: Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, who is due to arrive in Colombo Feb, 23, is slated to address the Sri Lankan parliament on the following day, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced at the Party Leaders Meeting held here on Monday.
Premier Khan will be the third Pakistan prime minister to address the Lankan legislators after Pakistan former President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Former Indian Prime Minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru was the first foreign dignitary to have made an address at the parliament in 1962. Former British Prime Minister Magaret Thatcher too had made a similar speech at a subsequent occasion.Indian Premier Narendra Modi also had addressed the parliament in 2015.
Khan is scheduled to reach in Sri Lanka on February 23 on a two-day official visit to the island. He will hold talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.
