The 62nd anniversary of the establishment of Afghanistan-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations was celebrated at the Afghan Embassy in Colombo on Sunday.
On the occasion of celebrating the 62 years of relationship, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in a Twitter message said the leadership of both nations are committed to “continue and further strengthen the friendship and bilateral relationship to mutually benefit both our nations.”
Issuing a statement on the occasion, the Afghan Ambassador in Sri Lanka, M. Ashraf Haidari said while Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have shared intertwined civilizational ties influenced by such major belief systems as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism since time immemorial, in the modern era, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka established non-resident diplomatic relations on November 1, 1958.
Following the Ambassador’s statement in full:
November 1st marks the 62nd Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. My Embassy colleagues and I are immensely delighted to join His Excellency Foreign Minister Mohammed Haneef Atmar in celebrating the 62nd Anniversary of our fast-growing, multifaceted relationship with the friendly Government and people of Sri Lanka.
Since time immemorial, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka have shared intertwined civilizational ties influenced by such major belief systems as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism, which dominated much of the Gandhara region—including modern Afghanistan—from where Buddhism spread to South Asia, Central Asia, and East Asia. And history tells us that some of the early settlers of this paradise-island hailed from the northwest of India and the Indus River region, which Afghans then and today have inhabited.
Indeed, the majestic and revered Buddhas of Bamiyan are a testament to our shared heritage and to Afghanistan’s cultural pluralism and diversity, which underpin the Afghan identity today. That is why Afghanistan’s former imperial powers—who later embraced and championed Islam in our flourishing region—revered and protected the Buddhas of Bamiyan, as have the many modern governments of Afghanistan. But the brief misrule of the extremist Taliban was an exception, as they tragically dynamited the sixth century statues of Buddha. The Afghan people, including our diaspora communities around the world, continue mourning the tragic loss of our cultural treasure, which must never happen again.
In the modern era, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka established non-resident diplomatic relations on November 1, 1958. Our missions in New Delhi mostly handled our bilateral affairs, which, except for some intervals during the war years, continued after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Afghanistan initiated to elevate our diplomatic ties with Sri Lanka, following high-level fruitful exchanges between H.E. Former President Hamid Karzai and H.E. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, currently the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, Afghanistan opened our embassy in Colombo, which Sri Lanka reciprocated in 2014.
As two democracies in South Asia, the fast-growing relations of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka enjoy the strong and unreserved support of our two governments’ leadership. Shortly after his notable electoral victory last November, H.E. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and I had a very friendly and fruitful meeting, in which we conveyed to him the warm congratulations of H.E. President Ashraf Ghani and his firm commitment to further expanding our bilateral relationship, which H.E. President Rajapaksa warmly welcomed. We had a similar exchange with the Honorable Prime Minister Rajapaksa, a committed friend of Afghanistan, following his landslide victory in last August’s general elections, on whose success H.E. President Ghani congratulated the people of Sri Lanka and welcomed the outcome as a major win for democracy in Sri Lanka and South Asia.
Much like Sri Lanka’s valued location as “the Jewel of the Indian Ocean,” Afghanistan is “the Heart of Asia;” the gateway to all Silk Roads in all directions: north and south; east and west. We sit right between South Asia and Central Asia, awaiting sustainable peace to be achieved with regional cooperation and support so that Afghanistan can play our natural role as a land-bridge between the subcontinent, South West Asia, and Central Asia.
Given our geographic centrality for transit trade, including energy, no major connectivity project can bypass Afghanistan. That is why Sri Lanka would greatly benefit from a more beefed-up presence in the country (with a population of over 30 million consumers) where Sri Lankan diplomats could work to help the Sri Lankan private sector take advantage of the numerous investment opportunities in the Afghan virgin markets, while looking northwards to explore similar opportunities in Central Asia (with a population of over 70 million consumers).
In this this light, despite the COVID-19 challenge, we worked hard over the past few months to facilitate the recent signing of a cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC). We did so, knowing the vast trade and investment potential on both sides that need to be realized. As we discussed with H.E. President Rajapaksa and the Honorable Prime Minister Rajapaksa, as soon as we have established direct air connectivity between our two countries, Sri Lanka’s tourism industry—including medical tourism and higher education tourism—would immensely benefit from Afghanistan’s demand in this mega sector.
We have no doubt that within a year of such connectivity, we could easily need to operate a daily fight between Kabul and Colombo—carrying tourists seeking rest and recuperation; patients seeking treatment; students seeking quality education; and businesspeople seeking investment opportunities.
Moreover, Sri Lanka’s principal products such as the Ceylon tea; apparel and textiles; spices; food, feed, and beverages; and coconut and coconut-based products could easily find profitable markets in Afghanistan. For example, we are a tea-drinking nation, and every adult Afghan could consume more than six cups of tea a day, while we produce no tea. That is why we have been encouraging the tea industry of Sri Lanka to make a move and begin exporting the country’s tasteful tea varieties to Afghanistan with consistent demand for this signature Sri Lankan product.
In the same vein, we have encouraged the jewellery sector of Sri Lanka to visit Kabul and see for themselves the endless investment opportunities in this virgin market in Afghanistan as one of the minerally richest countries in the world with large reserves of precious and semi-precious stones. Here, Afghanistan not only needs Sri Lanka’s exploration and extraction technical know-how but also its experience and expertise in processing, designing, and marketing Afghanistan’s precious and semi-precious stones, including emerald, ruby, lapis lazuli, garnet, tourmaline, and others.
In light of these bilateral trade and investment opportunities, we have welcomed the recent appointment of a seasoned Sri Lankan public servant, H.E. Ambassador-Designate Piyal De Silva, to represent his country in Afghanistan, with whom I look forward to working soon. Meantime, as we extend our sincere congratulations to the Government and people of Sri Lanka on 62 years of our growing bilateral relations, my colleagues and I look forward to working with all stakeholders on both sides to advance our two countries’ many shared interests and to further deepen people-to-people ties between our two nations.
In doing so, the Embassy of Afghanistan in Colombo remains at the 24/7 service of all our Sri Lankan customers, whom we kindly invite to visit our website and follow our social media pages to stay updated on all developments in our growing bilateral relationship, friendship, and partnerships.
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