Ambassador C.A.H.M. Wijeratne

Today, we commemorate 65th anniversary of Independence to our motherland Sri Lanka. On this occasion, I would like to convey my heartfelt congratulations and warm greetings to all members of the Sri Lankan community in the State of Kuwait. I also take this opportunity to thank the Government and the people of the friendly Sate of Kuwait for their good wishes and felicitations.

The prime intention of celebrating Independence Day should be to commemorate the great heroes who sacrificed their lives to gain independence and freedom for the country with gratitude, to look back the country’s to the today’s generation, to pave the way to make their present and future meaningful and to realize the reality of freedom. The most important duty which should be acquired through the freedom won is the economic and spiritual development of the people. Therefore the nation’s respect and felicitations should go to all patriots who paid the supreme sacrifice, laying down their lives to overcome the nations challenges for the sake of supreme independence. Our country is endowed with natural beauties and blessed with the major religions.

One can come across all types of climatic conditions within a space of 20 kilometres. The rivers in this golden island never go dry. The rain water is collected in lakes around the country. This land of ours is sanctuary to wild elephants, beasts and birds. The nature has given to this land fruits and other consumable vegetables as gifts. It is hardly believable whether there is another country gifted with all these other than Sri Lanka. On this occasion, I wish to invite all Kuwaiti and expatriate community in Kuwait to experience our hospitality and the natural beauty of the country.

Discussing the Kuwaiti–Sri Lanka relationship which is a source of both pride and joy. Sri Lanka and Kuwait have always had friendly and cordial relationship since Independence of the State of Kuwait in 1961. During the detestable Iraqi invasion and occupation of 1990–91, Sri Lanka supported all UN Security Council resolutions demanding the immediate withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, and in March 1991, it became one of the first countries to reopen its embassy in Kuwait.

Both Sri Lanka and Kuwait have participated at international fora, including the different UN Conventions, the NAM summits, the ACD Ministerial meetings as well as the Summit and the WTO Ministerial Conferences, thus sharing a common understanding and belief in the need to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries. In recent Her Excellency Chandrika Kumaratunga, former President of Sri Lanka, visited Kuwait in 1997 to specifically add a new dimension in our bilateral relations, and the state visits of the incumbent Sri Lankan President His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa to Kuwait in 2007 and 2011 had reinforced our common interest to deepen and widen the excellent and historical relationship. years, this relationship has intensified into a multi–faceted and mutually beneficial partnership encompassing all fields of interest.

Exchanges of high level visits between our two countries have taken place regularly since His Highness The Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1970. Her Excellency Chandrika Kumaratunga, former President of Sri Lanka, visited Kuwait in 1997 to specifically add a new dimension in our bilateral relations, and the state visits of the incumbent Sri Lankan President His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa to Kuwait in 2007 and 2011 had reinforced our common interest to deepen and widen the excellent and historical relationship. We are confident that we will be able to march forward to continue our development drive and take Sri Lanka forward to a greater level of prosperity.


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