Japan to Expand Maritime Cooperation with Sri Lanka; Vision for Peace and Stability in the Indian Ocean

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Yoko Kamikawa has said that given the strategic importance of Sri Lanka which is situated on the sea lane between Africa and the Pacific, Japan aims to further strengthen cooperation with Sri Lanka in the maritime sector. 

She made this remark during a meeting with her Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry, PC in Tokyo.

Minister Sabry, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, responded saying that Sri Lanka, as a peace-loving maritime nation, will continue to cooperate with various countries and contribute to the peace and stability in the Indian Ocean.

The Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamikawa had expressed hope that initiatives like the Japanese Cabinet Office’s “Ship for World Youth” program, which became the opportunity for Minister Sabry’s visit to Japan 28 years ago, as well as the new Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS), will nurture talented individuals that will contribute to Sri Lanka’s development and serve as bridges between the two countries. 

The two Ministers agreed that active people-to-people exchanges are the foundation of bilateral relations, and they concurred on actively promoting such exchanges between the two countries.