ISLAMABAD, March 29: The primary objective of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s visit to Pakistan this week will be to boost economic cooperation and increase two-way trade that at present stands at just a little over $200 million.

This was stated by Sri Lankan High Commissioner C.S. Weerasooriya while talking to Dawn on Tuesday.

Underscoring the importance Sri Lanka attached to its relations with Pakistan, he said this would be the second country that Mr Rajapakse would be visiting after taking over as the president in November 2005. India was the first country he visited in December.

“We are very interested in the economic cooperation growing,” he said, adding that President Rajapakse would be accompanied by a 22-member business delegation.

He pointed out that the president would have three meetings with the Pakistani business community during his three-day stay here during which he would also visit Lahore and Karachi.

He said the Sri Lankan leader would hold formal talks with President Pervez Musharraf on the day of his arrival on Friday.

He said the ‘mutual agreement on criminal matters’ between Sri Lanka and Pakistan formalised last year would be ratified during the visit. Moreover, four MoUs will be signed on cultural cooperation, railways, tourism and education.

Mr Weerasooriya said Sri Lanka was keen to export tea to Pakistan and had got the green light from the government to open a ‘Tea Centre’ in Karachi.

He said the two countries had ongoing defence cooperation since mid-80s. “As and when we need we ask,” he said without going into the specifics. He said the $20 million credit line for purchase of defence products offered by Pakistan to Sri Lanka in 1999 would now be operationalised.

The high commissioner advocated liberalisation of visa regime and additional air links to facilitate travel between the two countries.

He said while there had been a marked increase in interaction between the two countries at various levels in the last five years, there was a need to promote people-to-people contact.

Appreciating the help extended by Pakistan to Sri Lanka in its trying times, he said: “We value Pakistan. It has been a great friend throughout and stood by us in all our difficulties.”

Mr Weerasooriya was non-committal when asked whether Sri Lanka still stood by its position of supporting India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. “It is too early to get into the specifics. However, in principle, we are for expansion and for consensus,” was his response.