Image: President Mahinda Rajapaksa conferred Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with “Lanka Mithra Vibushana”, Sri Lanka`s highest national honor, at a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday (February 12). The Maldivian President was honoured in appreciation of diplomatic and other mutual ties between Sri Lanka and Maldives for three decades. This award was conferred on a Foreign Head of State for the first time in Sri Lanka.(February 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Our goal is to achieve socio-economic progress while facing unprecedented challenges such as natural disasters and combating terrorism in all its manifestations, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the banquet in honour of visiting President Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives yesterday (12) evening in Colombo.
“Given the magnitude of these challenges, we need to reaffirm our resolve to cooperate regionally towards finding solutions to our common problems in a spirit of friendship, trust and mutual understanding based on mutual respect and shared benefits,” he added.
The full speech:
It is with great pleasure that I welcome Your Excellency, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to Sri Lanka not only as the President of Maldives, but also as the eminent elder statesman of the South Asian region and above all, as a true friend of Sri Lanka. I must also extend a sincere welcome to Madam Nasreena Gayoom and the distinguished delegation from the Maldives.
At the outset, let me congratulate Your Excellency on completing thirty (30) years in office as the President of Maldives, which has made Your Excellency the longest serving Head of State in South Asia. Your Excellency has through the years managed to usher in political change together with continued economic development for your people.
Image: President Mahinda Rajapaksa welcomed Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who was on a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka at the Presidential Secretariat on February 12. (Picture by Sudath Silva)You have always displayed deep commitment to regional goals within SAARC and our common desire to bring peace, progress and prosperity to our peoples. Thereby you have rendered great service both to your country and to the region.
It is with particular pleasure that I recall that you are the only Head of State to have participated at all the Summits since the inception of SAARC, a unique achievement. You have proved yourself to be a visionary not only for the Maldives but also for the SAARC region. No person is better qualified than Your Excellency to the high honour of ‘Sri Lanka Mithra Vibhushana`, which was conferred on Your Excellency in recognition of your exceptional contributions.
The decision to award this honour was easy, considering the immense contribution Your Excellency has made towards the progress of your country including introducing democratic reforms, and a multi - party system to the Maldives as well as your continued leadership in regional and international fora in bringing environmental issues that impact on all life on Earth, such as global warming and the effects of climate change, to the forefront of national agendas of nations.
Excellencies, distinguished guests,
Our vision for the future as one of the least developed regions in the world needs to be one that is based on the empowerment of our people. Our road map needs to be one which inspires our actions and enables us to set strategic goals and reach them.
Your Excellency has presented a well-considered and realistic vision for the Maldives which, by the year two thousand and twenty (2020), is expected to be one of the top-ranking nations amongst the middle-income developing countries. My sincere wish is for this endeavour to become a reality and that all of us in the SAARC region will also reach these noble objectives.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Today we are faced with challenges of an unprecedented scale, such as combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We are also faced with natural disasters of unprecedented scale such as the tsunami of 2004. Our central goal is to face these challenges and usher in social and economic progress and political stability in a manner, which preserves and enhances our natural spiritual and cultural heritage.
Given the magnitude of these challenges, we need to reaffirm our resolve to cooperate regionally towards finding solutions to our common problems in a spirit of friendship, trust and mutual understanding based on mutual respect and shared benefits.
We have to be conscious that peace and security is essential for the development in our region. Our success in developing a legal framework of cooperation and assistance will help in promoting regional peace and stability.
Sri Lanka places great importance on developing its bilateral relations with the Maldives. The relations between Sri Lanka and Maldives date back to many centuries and have flourished and diversified over the years. The establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries coincides with the date of Independence of Maldives. We are happy to note that Colombo is one of the eleven capitals where Maldives maintains overseas Missions.
This is Your Excellency’s second visit to Sri Lanka within the past three years. During this period there were several high level visits from Sri Lanka to Maldives including my own visit last year and that of my Foreign Minister on the occasion of handing over the Central Library building, a gift from the government and the people of Sri Lanka to the Government and the people of Maldives.
It is a matter of satisfaction that both our countries have achieved considerable progress in social development, which has been a priority in our national policies since independence. Education and health have been areas of positive bilateral collaboration for mutual benefit helping to meet the challenges we face as small island nations with developing economies.
Sri Lanka and Maldives continue to work together in achieving our common objectives through existing mechanisms such as the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the fields of Culture and Education. We will work together to develop new areas of collaboration and cooperation. Sri Lanka has always been committed in promoting people to people contact in the region to strengthen goodwill and foster better understanding among our immediate neighbours.
Sri Lanka has agreed to grant fourteen (14) full undergraduate scholarships for Maldivian students to study in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka also has undertaken to further simplify the visa procedures for Maldivian students. The possibilities for collaboration in the proposed new medical school in the Maldives and the mobile health service are also being explored.
Bilateral trade needs to be further expanded and diversified in a manner beneficial to both sides. The opportunities offered in various sectors need to be explored through regular meetings of officials, experts and the private sector.
The tourism industries of our countries have faced unprecedented challenges. But it is of utmost importance to both our countries and the region as a whole, and a concerted effort has to be launched to promote the region of South Asia as a single tourist destination, attracting tourists from around the world and also from within our own region. In both our countries, tourism has been developed in an environmentally friendly manner, which will stand us in good stead for the future.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
I take this opportunity to propose a toast in honour of His Excellency, President Gayoom for his illustrious political career and to the friendship of our two nations and to the health and well-being of your Excellency.
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