Sri Lankan president postpones Pak visit

Foreign Office spokersperson says trip has not been cancelled

ISLAMABAD: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has cancelled a scheduled visit to Islamabad in light of the current political turmoil in the country. The Sri Lankan leader was due to arrive in Islamabad on August 22. The Foreign Office confirmed that the visit has been put on hold for now.

“The trip has not been cancelled. It is postponed,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told The Express Tribune.

She said the visit had not been formally announced yet and the Pakistani government advised the Sri Lankan officials to postpone the trip.

The Sri Lankan president and his delegation were due to meet with civilian and military leadership in Pakistan. The postponement of the visit is a second blow to the government’s diplomatic ties this week as India cancelled talks between foreign secretaries of the two countries in Islamabad earlier
this week.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2014.