China offers to boost military ties

The Chinese Military is willing to make joint efforts with the Sri Lankan Military to strengthen high-level contacts. Sri Lanka on its part is grateful to China for its support and assistance in ending the civil war and rebuilding and developing Sri Lanka.

This was said when Sri Lanka Navy Commander Jayanath Colombage met Central Military Commission (CMC) member of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Fang Fenghui and Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing, the People’s Daily Online reported.

Fang Fenghui said that China and Sri Lanka share traditional friendship. In March 2013, PRC President Xi Jinping, and President Mahinda Rajapaksa had spoken over the phone and reached an important consensus on further developing China-Sri Lanka relations. In recent years, the mutual political trust has been constantly enhanced and the bilateral contacts in such fields as humanities as well as economy and trade have been increasingly closer.

With the in-depth development of the relations between the two countries, the Chinese and Sri Lankan militaries have carried out fruitful exchanges and cooperation in various fields, said Fang, adding that the Chinese military is willing to make joint efforts with the Sri Lankan Military to strengthen high-level contacts, deepen pragmatic cooperation and innovate exchange forms, so as to push forward the relations between the two militaries to a new high.

Colombage said that the Sri Lankan side is grateful to the Chinese side for its support and assistance in ending the Sri Lankan Civil War and rebuilding and developing Sri Lanka. He hoped that the two sides would strengthen communication with each other and seek closer cooperation, so as to promote the relations between the two militaries, especially those between the two navies, to a new high.