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Afghanistan
wants Lanka’s help A high-powered delegation from Afghanistan met Deputy Foreign Minister Wisva Warnapala during a visit to Sri Lanka this week. Prof. Wisva Warnapala told The Sunday Times that the delegation referred particularly to the Bamiyan Buddha statues which were destroyed. “When the Taliban wanted to destroy the Buddha statues there were severe objections by the Sri Lankan Government. But now the willingness of the present Afghan Government to reconstruct the destroyed Buddha statues is the first step in strengthening Sri Lanka’s ties with Afghanistan after a long time,” he said. It also asked for the assistance of Buddhist scholars and the Department of Archaeology in the task of reconstructing the Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban. The delegation also sought assistance from Sri Lanka in the areas of health, trade and higher education and discussed the possibility of getting professionals and skilled workers to Afghanistan so that the country can be developed by having an educated and skilled labour force. The delegation had talks with the Sri Lanka Tea Board Chairman on having Sri Lanka as the sole exporter of tea to Afghanistan as 99% of the people there are tea drinkers. Due to the scarcity of professional dentists in the country the delegation also met the Health Minister and Ministry officials to discuss the possibility of getting Sri Lankan dentists to develop the profession in Afghanistan. It also met the Peradeniya University Vice Chancellor and faculty heads to discuss whether graduates can be sent from here for employment to Afghanistan and also sought advice on developing the Kabul University. The nine-member delegation comprised of Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Hameed Reza, Deputy Minister of Public Administration Walli Rasool, Advisor to the President Y. Osman, Consular Political and Economic Affairs Dr. Abdul Shoogufan, Head of Labour and Social Welfare Ministry Ahem Aemaque, Head of the Foreign Assistance Department Abdul Mansoor, Head of the Extension Department in the Agriculture Ministry Fazludeen Fazir, Head of Co-ordination and Academic Affairs Dr. Galmonod Tannin and Kabul University official Dr. Abdul Zahir. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had stressed that both countries should strengthen their relationship when he met Prof. Wisva Warnapala who had received him at the Katunayake International airport when the President stopped over on his way to attend the Non-Aligned Summit held in Jakarta in April. |
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