Myanmar top leader to visit Sri Lanka

Myanmar top leader Senior-General Than Shwe will pay an official visit to Sri Lanka soon, an official announcement from Nay Pyi Taw said on Monday, without giving the specific date of his visit.

According to the Sri Lankan sources earlier, Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, will pay the visit near this weekend and the trip will last for three days.

Than Shwe's Colombo visit is a reciprocal one to Nay Pyi Taw by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in June this year. Both visits mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

During his June Myanmar visit, Rajapaksa met with Than Shwe and had talks with Prime Minister General Thein Sein on promotion of cooperation in the two countries' bilateral ties, religious affairs, trade, economy, education, agriculture, forestry, hotels and tourism and transport as well as regional cooperation and mutual cooperation in international arena.

On that occasion, Myanmar and Sri Lanka signed an agreement on mutual exemption of visas for diplomatic passport and service passport holders of the two countries and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in tourism.

The Sri Lankan president also visited Yangon and inaugurated the Mitta Village in cyclone-hit Kungyangon Township, built with the help of Sri Lanka.

Myanmar and Sri Lanka, which established diplomatic relations on June 7, 1949, have enjoyed cultural and religious ties since the 11th century.

Both Myanmar and Sri Lanka are members of the sub-regional grouping of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which also comprises Bangladesh, India and Thailand.

Source: Xinhua