India always stood for united & sovereign Sri Lanka: Mahajan

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who led the Indian Parliamentary delegation 8th Conference of Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians, said on Friday that India has always stood for a united and sovereign Sri Lanka.

Referring to rich cultural ties between both the countries, Mahajan suggested that religious tourism for Indian tourists in Sri Lanka could be further increased. In this regard, she also referred to the Buddhist Circuit being developed in India.

On the day of the conclusion, Mahajan also met Sri Lankan delegation led by Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of Sri Lankan Parliament. Jayasuriya informed that the proposed new Constitution of Sri Lanka would take care of all ethnic groups and other stakeholders. To achieve this goal, the draft of the new Constitution would be widely debated, he added.

Both delegations expressed interest in consolidating closer ties between the two Parliaments and to organise a friendly cricket match between parliamentarians of both countries. It was felt that regular dialogue between the two Parliaments would provide a fillip to bilateral ties.

Appreciating the capacity-building programmes being organised by the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST) of Lok Sabha Secretariat for their parliamentarians and officials, the Sri Lankan delegation suggested that such programmes, including the attachment programmes, might be customised for the officials of the Sri Lanka Parliament. In response to it, Mahajan assured that all such suggestions would be considered sincerely.

Earlier, emphasising that implementation of noble goals in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would be successful only when SAARC countries present a united front, Mahajan had said that collective efforts of all countries in South Asia, which is a home to about one fourth of the world population, would help in making SAARC an abode of peace, progress and prosperity.