President Mathripala Sirisena will be undertaking a working visit to Singapore from Jan 23 -25, 2019 to attend and deliver a keynote speech at the Third Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia Pacific, organised by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and the UN Environment.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore confirmed this in a statement adding that President Sirisena will be hosted to lunch by President Halimah Yacob and have a meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
This will be President Sirisena's first visit to Singapore since the signing of the controversial Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in January 2018.
Thereafter just eight months after the signing of the FTA, the President taking into consideration the views expressed by various parties over the Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) appointed a committee of experts to study and submit a report on it. The five-member committee was headed by University of Colombo former Vice Chancellor and Emeritus Professor of Economics Prof. W. D. Lakshman.
The report was presented to the President on December 10, 2018. The report highlighted a number of provisions in the agreement that were illegal as well as clauses detrimental to Sri Lanka. The committee had recommended that the agreement be reviewed.
The United States has told Sri Lanka that the disposition of the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Bushehr and its crew is a matter for Colombo to resolve under its own laws and international obligations, while signalling it is in active talks with Sri Lanka to contain Iran’s threat to US interests.
The government today granted permission for an Iranian warship with 208 on board to enter the country.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism today established a 24x7 Emergency Response Unit to coordinate matters related to the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
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