Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with President Sirisena

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull congratulated President Maithripala Sirisena for the "great reconciliation programme undertaken by the Sri Lankan government".

According to a statement Mr. Turnbull made these remarks when he held bilateral discussions with President Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo this morning (2nd Nov.).

Australian Premier thanked the President for excellent cooperation extended to fight transnational crimes including human smuggling and drug trafficking.

Australian Premier assured assistance to further develop Sri Lanka's counter-narcotic capabilities. Furthermore, Australia will assist the National Defence College (NDC) to be set up shortly in Sri Lanka. Mr. Turnbull said his government would depute a senior military officer for two years to provide administrative and curriculum expertise and to deliver select course modules to the NDC.

Prime Minister Turnbul is quoted to have said Australia would gift 3 Stab craft vessels for coastguard operations. "They are fast crafts and very useful for coastal operations," he said.

President Sirisena thanked the Australian Prime Minister for the new trade and investment agreement which would further enhance trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. Prime Minister Turnbull and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe witnessed signing of a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement today at the Temple Trees.

President Sirisena thanked Premier Turnbull for paying this visit to Sri Lanka, though the visit was a very brief one.