Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will pay a brief visit to Colombo on Monday for talks with Sri Lankan leaders and signing of several agreements to boost bilateral relations, according to officials.
Lavrov is scheduled to hold parleys with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Sri Lankan counterpart on bilateral and international issues, and sign an agreement on countering drug trafficking and a MoU between the countries' disaster relief ministries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
The two nations are also discussing new agreements in civil aviation, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, tourism, trade, and economic partnership, Nesterenko said at a weekly foreign office briefing.
Russia's joint stance with Sri Lanka at the UN earlier this year amid international criticism over the country's military operations against Tamil Tigers serve as a "clear example" of bilateral interaction, he said.
Moscow has announced a relief package for Tamil refugees and displaced persons, and offered military assistance for the modernisation of the Sri Lankan Army, earlier media reports said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, October 23, 2009, 16:32