ISLAMABAD: The 6th round of Foreign Secretary level Bilateral Political Consultations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was held virtually.

 Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood led the Pakistan side whilst the Sri Lankan delegation was headed by Foreign Secretary Admiral (Prof.) Jayanath Colombage.

The two sides discussed the whole gamut of bilateral relations, including cooperation in the political, economic, defence, trade and investment, culture and education fields as well as people-to-people exchanges.  

Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood underscored the exceptional quality of bilateral political relations and rapport at the leadership level. He underlined that the bilateral trade and economic ties must also commensurate with excellent political relations. There was convergence on both sides for strengthening existing mechanisms of cooperation and exploring new avenues of bilateral collaboration.

The Foreign Secretary shared Pakistan’s perspective on the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, progress of CPEC, and Pakistan’s positive contribution to the Afghan peace process.

He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to SAARC and expressed the hope that the process of regional cooperation would be allowed to move forward.