April 3, 2006	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 4, 1427

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LAHORE, April 2: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse on Sunday met Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and Governor Khalid Maqbool, showing keen interest in cooperation between Punjab and his country in the education and health sectors.

The visiting president, his wife and members of his delegation attended a civic reception by the chief minister and a luncheon at the Governor’s House, besides visiting the Lahore Museum and the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

He left for Colombo via Karachi late in the afternoon by a special plane. Governor Khalid Maqbool bade him farewell.

Talking to reporters at the chief minister’s reception, Mr Rajapakse said his visit to the city was interesting and he had held fruitful discussions with Pervaiz Elahi.

“Lahore is a wonderful city. It is a centre of culture and education. I was earlier taken to the museum which is a repository of rich cultural heritage,” he said.

The chief minister said the wife of the Sri Lankan president showed keen interest in the provincial education- and health-sector reform programmes. And the focus of attention of the president, too, was the health sector.

He said Mr Rajapakse had asked his health minister to keep a liaison with his Punjab counterpart to know as to how provision of health facilities could be ensured in the rural areas of Sri Lanka.

Speaking to the chief minister, the Sri Lankan president appreciated the development strategy of Punjab and said the city’s museum had the largest collection of world historical heritage in the shape of statues, coins and other artifacts.

Pervaiz Elahi said the provincial government wanted to achieve the target of 100 per cent literacy through its education-sector reforms.

The Sri Lankan president’s wife donated four pairs of eyes to the local chapter of Lion’s Club as a goodwill gesture.

The chief minister presented a painting of Lahore and a gift to the visiting dignitary, who was earlier introduced to Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Shaukat Mazari, cabinet ministers, Lahore nazim and senior officials.

Later, exchanging views with the governor at the luncheon, the Sri Lankan president said Colombo and Islamabad were tied in the bond of mutual cooperation and friendship. The tide of time could not affect the strong friendly relations between the two countries.

Mr Rajapakse said he felt during his visit to LUMS that the governor was opening the province’s centres of higher education to the world after making them a combination of modernity and quality.

He said he was happy to know that the number of girl students in the universities of both the countries had crossed the mark of 60 per cent, and their leadership had the resolve to cooperate with each other in the fields of science, technology and trade.

The governor said Pakistan was the custodian of 6000-year old Buddhist civilisation. And the friendship between Pakistan and Sri Lanka could also been seen through the annals of history.

He said the people of Pakistan had a great regard for the Sri Lankan leadership because it had always supported their country’s viewpoint whenever there was a tough time in the Saarc region.

Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka, he said, were among the countries which believed in the sovereignty of independent nations, respect for humanity and world laws, besides welfare of the underdog.

He invited the president to visit any of the public-sector universities in Punjab to see the high quality of education here.

The governor said Pakistan was interested in taking advantage of Sri Lanka’s expertise in textile designing, mid-level management and tourism.

The Sri Lankan delegation was received at the Governor’s House by Governor Maqbool and his wife. Federal Minister Sikandar Bosan, members of Senate, MNA, MPAs, Lahore Corps Commander Lt-Gen Shafaatullah Shah and senior officials attended the luncheon.

At the LUMS, Mr Rajapakse was briefed by university vice-chancellor Dr Syed Zahoor Hasan and Rector Razak Dawood on the working of the institution. He took round of the LUMS library and planted a sapling.

Representing him, Sri Lankan Education Minister Jusil Premjayantha said Colombo’s literacy rate was 93 per cent and it was looking towards taking it to 100 per cent. Education was free up to middle level and students were given free books and even meals.

He said Sri Lanka was focusing on higher education in the field of management science, engineering, medicine and social sciences. LUMS was a model for Sri Lanka and some of the recipients of president’s scholarship will join it.

Mr Dawood said LUMS was financed by the private sector and was focusing now on science and engineering education.