Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, the High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Australia paid a courtesy call on Hon. Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia on 22 October 2013 at his Parliamentary Office to formally hand over the letter of felicitation of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, for being elected as the new Prime Minister and the invitation to the current chair of the Commonwealth Heads of Government to attend the CHOGM in Colombo. While appreciating the progress made within a short period of time, the Australian Prime Minister said that he was very happy and enthusiastic to visit Sri Lanka for the CHOGM to see for himself the achievements and to interact and engage with Sri Lanka’s leadership and other participating Commonwealth Leaders. He took the opportunity to thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the support rendered in one of the major Australian national issues of human smuggling. High Commissioner Samarasinghe explained Sri Lanka’s progress made in successful Northern Provincial elections and achievements in many fields, including economic development, poverty alleviation and infrastructure.
The High Commissioner also had the opportunity of calling on Ms. Julie Bishop, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Australia and to discuss CHOGM, human smuggling and other bilateral issues. Hon. Julie Bishop also indicated that she was looking forward to her forthcoming visit to Sri Lanka for the CHOGM and to observe herself once again the post conflict achievements of Sri Lanka.
