NEW YORK: Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram told a virtual event marking Sri Lanka’s 74th independence anniversary the relationship between Islamabad and Colombo was contributing to peace and stability in the South Asian region.
“Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy relations of warmth and affection from the highest political level to the relationships between our peoples,” he said while felicitating the nation’s leadership and the people on the occasion.
“The relationship between our peoples stretches back 2,500 years to the Buddhist and Gandhara eras.”
In his message, Ambassador Akram said: “We are both committed to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, in particular the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and non-interference in the internal affairs of other States.
“We have assisted each other in recent times in the preservation of these principles in South Asia.”
Sri Lanka, he said, continues to play a vital role in multilateral affairs, adding the two countries believe that in an inter-connected and globalized world, fraught with risk and challenges, the United Nations is the indispensable organisation to address the unprecedented triple crisis we confront today: the health crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, accompanying the economic crisis that has severely damaged our economies, and the existential threat of climate change.
The ambassador added: “Our bilateral relations cover all areas of cooperation including defence, commerce, and culture and are marked by the commonality of interests, a shared vision and mutual trust.”
