- Imran Khan is due today on first visit to Sri Lanka as Pakistan’s Prime Minister
- First Head of State to visit the country after President Rajapakse and New Govt. took office in Sri Lanka
- Premier Khan’s maiden official trip overseas this year
By Charnika Imbulana Munasinghe
Legendary Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, is scheduled to land in Sri Lanka this afternoon and it will be his first visit here in the capacity of Pakistan’s Prime Minister. He will also be the first Head of State to visit the country after President Gotabeya Rajapakse and his Govt. took office in Sri Lanka in year 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The red carpet is rolled out to welcome the visiting Premier, who is very popular here, not only for his exceptional cricketing skills, but admired also for his Political acumen and leadership. Sri Lanka, Pakistan relations are set to warm up in the next two days, with an itinerary that spells joint collaboration between the two countries on many fronts.
Prime Minister Khan’s Govt. team visiting Sri Lanka includes Foreign Minister Makhdoom shah Mehmood Qureshi, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce, Abdul Rasak Dawood, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Sohail Mehmood and senior officials of the Pakistan Government. The Pakistan Prime Minister is here on the invitation of Sri Lankan Premier, Rajapakse and it is Premier Khan’s maiden official visit outside the country for this year.
Premier Khan’s visit has heightened the interest of those closely watching the regional developments, as his visit comes at a time that Sri Lanka is balancing its act with immediate neighbor India and China, while Pakistan is known to be closest to the latter.
Sri Lanka’s Premier Rajapakse and Premier Khan are expected to make a joint statement upon the latter’s arrival. A meeting with the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse tomorrow morning is expected to focus on key regional and international issues followed by several MOU’s that are to be signed for bilateral cooperation on trade, agriculture, defense, health, education and tourism.
Thereafter, the Pakistan Premier is billed to attend, a Business and Investment Forum with a high powered business delegation comprising of Pakistan’s business leaders in the fields of textiles, apparel, pharmaceuticals, sports goods, agro-food commodities, gems and jewelry, auto-parts, ICT, Construction material and surgical equipment. A sports diplomacy initiative is also in the agenda.
Pakistan has been regarded as a longtime ally of Sri Lanka with trading ties going way back as 1948. In fact Sri Lanka was the first country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan in 2005. Trade between the two countries reached 500 million US dollars by the end of 2010. Today it’s the second largest trading partner in Sri Lanka.
The two countries share a commonality of views on a wide range of regional and International issues and work closely as members in the United Nations and SAARC.
Prime Minister Khan was earlier scheduled to address Parliament on the second day of his visit. However it was subsequently cancelled. Both Governments in their press releases sited health protocols for Covid 19 being followed, as reasons for the cancellation. However speculation was rife if this was actually so.
Every turn that’s taken will be pounced on from some quarter or the other, that’s how sensitive the movements of these regional players have become in the game for economic and political supremacy.
Sri Lanka’s Human Rights matter in the UN, Kashmir issue with India or whether Pakistan will go for an economic bail out with China or the IMF will be topics that will be speculated on.
Prime Minister Khan is not new to speculations or controversies, may it be Sports or Politics. It is known that he can get his message across without an official podium. This is why it will be even more interesting to see how he will play his new role, in the region, requiring constant new strategies to achieve what he aims at. With a looming economic crisis at home, Khan is going all out looking to strike it well, for regional peace and economic solutions.
Pakistan has been a friend to Sri Lanka at the most crucial times. Therefore Sri Lanka has an even bigger balancing act with so many stake holders with different allegiances, in regional affairs. Sri Lanka’s President and Prime Minister then have equally big issues and a balancing act that is even complicated and is in an unenviable position. It is going to be a region to watch, how the nations emerge from the regional issues in general, and amidst the Covid 19 with its economic implications, in particular.
