Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris met UAE Minister of Foreign Relations and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdulla Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on the sidelines of the 5th Indian Ocean Conference – IOC 2021 that was held in Abu Dhabi.

The Foreign Minister of U.A.E. welcomed Prof. G. L. Peiris to U.A.E. and recalled the friendly relations that exist between the two countries over the decades.
Minister Peiris extended congratulations to the U.A.E. Foreign Minister on the 50th Anniversary of the National Day of the U.A.E. which fell on 2 December 2021. The Foreign Minister of the U.A.E. emphasised the importance of enhancing friendly relations by high-level visits between the two countries and expressed his willingness to visit Sri Lanka in the course of next year. Foreign Minister Prof. Peiris mentioned that Minister Sheikh Abdullah would receive a very warm welcome in Sri Lanka.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrives in Parliament on Tuesday (07) to chair the Ministerial Consultative Committee meeting on defence. On arrival, the President was received by Leader of the House, Dinesh Gunawardene and Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando (pic courtesy President’s Media Division)

Minister Prof. Peiris briefed the Foreign Minister on the country’s situation with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic and the successful measures being implemented by the Government of Sri Lanka to control the spread of the virus. Minister Prof. Peiris said that Sri Lanka consistently appreciates the support of the U.A.E. in multilateral fora, especially in the Human Rights Council, and emphasised that Sri Lanka cannot accept any intrusive external mechanisms when robust domestic mechanisms are vigorously moving forward.

Among the other topics discussed by the two Foreign Ministers were cooperation in the energy sector, enhanced employment opportunities for Sri Lankans in the U.A.E. and increasing the volumes of investment by the U.A.E. in commercial ventures in Sri Lanka.