Islamabad, April 3 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will pay a state visit to Pakistan from April 5 to 7 at the invitation of the president and prime minister of Pakistan, officials said Friday.

This will be the first visit by the newly elected Sri Lankan president to Pakistan. He assumed office in January this year.
During the visit, Sirisena will meet with President Mamnoon Hussain, who will host a state banquet in his honour, Xinhua news agency cited the Pakistani foreign ministry as saying.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will hold bilateral talks with Sirisena.
A number of agreements for cooperation in various fields will be signed after the talks, a foreign ministry statement said.
Pakistan’s National Assembly speaker and senior ministers will call on the visiting president.
As members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Commonwealth, Pakistan and Sri Lanka cooperate closely and coordinate with each other on issues of common interest and regional and international concern, the foreign ministry said.

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