Sri Lanka welcomes Iranian President

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at the Bandaranaike International Air Port around 7.30 pm in local time and President Mahinda Rajapaksa welcomed the visiting dignitary.
He was welcomed at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayaka and Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. The Navy accorded a Guard of honour by offering 21 gun salute to the visiting President.

Heading a high-ranking delegation, the president would hold talks with his counterpart, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Rathnasiri and Foreign Minister Bogollagama.

During President Ahmadinejad's visit to Colombo, several documents are expected to be signed by Iranian and Sri Lankan officials for promotion of bilateral cooperation.

Iran-funded 450 million-dollar multi-purposes Uma Oya Project will ommence on Tuesday when the Iranian president and his Sri Lankan counterpart ceremonially inaugurate the mega development project in Sri Lanka.

Other major projects due to be inaugurated on Tuesday by the Iranian president is the expansion of the Sapugaskanda refinery which will make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in aviation fuel and bitumen.

Both projects are funded by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the tune of over US$ 1.9 billion, which was pledged during President Mahinda Rajapaksa's state visit to Iran in November last year.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit to India Tuesday on a brief visit to discuss various issues of mutual interest including measures to boost energy ties. President Ahmadinejad will be paying a brief visit here tomorrow afternoon enroute to Tehran from Colombo.
He will be calling on the Indian President. He will also be meeting the Prime Minister for discussions on issues of mutual interest including probable measures to strengthen energy partnership. He will leave Delhi for Tehran Tuesday night. "The Presidential visit is likely to have energy as the focus. The pending 22 billion US$ LNG deal, the 7.4 billion US$ Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and exploration and production joint ventures in Iran will top the high-level talks between the two countries," the official said, adding, "We are hoping that bilateral talks on the 22 billion US$ LNG deal with Iran will get fresh momentum with Ahmadinejad's visit." India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora visited Islamabad last week and held discussions with the concerned Pakistani authorities on the fate of the tri-nation (Iran-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline.
Deora has expressed optimism about the pipeline project and said the deal would be clinched shortly.
Last week, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had stated that nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency had the sole responsibility to ascertain the nuclear status of Iran and United States should not interfere in the process. New Delhi also objected a State Department statement on Iranian President's visit and stated India did not require any guidance on conduct of its foreign relations. Recently addressing a seminar here, India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon said Iran has the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
"It is not in India's interest to have another nuclear weapons state in its neighbourhood but Iran has the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy subject to its international obligations," Menon had said in a seminar organised by the Britain-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. Addressing the same seminar, India's National Security Adviser M K Narayanan said that India and Iran have civilization and economic ties. "Iran is a big country and you need to deal with them diplomatically and with erudition," he had said.