The just concluded visit of the Sri Lankan President to Pakistan has undoubtedly given a new dimension to bilateral relations between the two countries in view of the fact that both countries have agreed to enhance their bilateral trade from the current volume of $375 million to $2 billion within the next three years, besides expanding co-operation in the field of economy, defence, media and technical education.
Till recently, bilateral relations between the two countries predominantly focused on defense co-operation, in view of Sri Lanka's protracted war against the Tamil Tigers. It will perhaps not be an exaggeration to say that Pakistan actually helped Sri Lanka in end the 30 years insurgency by providing much needed arms and ammunition to the Sri Lankan government. The Tamil Tigers were so enraged by the defence co-operation between Pakistan and Sri Lanka that they even tried to kill the Pakistani Ambassador in 2006, who was lucky to escape the attempt on his life.
The process of expansion and diversification of bilateral relations between Sri-Lanka and Pakistan actually started when President Zardari visited Sri Lanka in December 2010. The present visit of the Sri Lankan President in fact has consolidated the gains of the understanding reached between the leaders, earlier. The two sides agreed to multi-sectoral co-operation and consequently three agreements and one MoU were signed during the visit to formalise co-operation in different fields.
The high point of parleys between the two Presidents was the decision to reinvigorate the Joint Economic Commission and task it to work out modalities for a new and unconventional phase of economic co-operation marked by barter trade, currency exchanges and banking interchanges. Sri Lanka is the first country which has signed the Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan which became effective in June 2005 under which 4000 items can be imported from Sri Lanka. There has been a significant increase in the volume of trade between the two countries in the last four years after the signing of this agreement. The two sides agreed to further strengthen commercial ties by vigorously pursuing the objectives of this agreement.
Sri Lanka also has very friendly and cordial relations with China which gives an added strength to bilateral relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is also a very important member of SAARC and shares Pakistan's perceptions about regional security and expanding the scope of the organisation to include political aspects of relations among the Saarc countries, which India has been staunchly opposing. Sri Lanka like Pakistan also abhors and rejects Indian hegemony in the region. The commonality of views on these issues is yet another strong pillar of Pak-Sri Lanka relations. Sri Lanka has always stood by Pakistan like a true friend. When all the cricket-playing countries showed their reluctance to send their teams to Pakistan on the pretext of rampant incidents of terrorism, it was Sri Lanka who showed solidarity by sending its team to play here. It was however most unfortunate that the terrorists were able to spoil the show by attacking the Sri Lankan team. Pakistani government and people very much appreciate that gesture and hold the Sri Lankan government and its people in the highest esteem. Sri Lankan government also extended valuable assistance to Pakistan during the recent floods.