First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic met today in Colombo with Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe.

In the talks, both sides expressed pleasure with the decades-long traditionally friendly Serbia-Sri Lanka relations and their readiness for the intensification of bilateral political dialogue at high and top levels, as well as promotion of cooperation in all areas. Prospects for development of cooperation in the economy were underlined in particular while the interlocutors, in this context, agreed that direct communication between entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce was highly important, noting the necessity to organize exchange of visits.

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe underlined that the people of Sri Lanka had fond memories of Tito, while the Serbian Foreign Minister pointed out that former SFRY President Tito had visited Sri Lanka on two occasions, in 1959 and again in 1976 during the Non-Aligned Summit held there.

Minister Dacic took the opportunity to convey to the Sri Lankan Prime Minister the gratitude of the Serbian Government, Parliament and people for Sri Lanka's position concerning non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of "Kosovo", also expressing his belief that the country would maintain this position in the future as well.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized that, considering the problems they had faced with secessionist tendencies in their own country, Sri Lanka attached particular importance to integrity of states, as well as that it would not change its position concerning non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of "Kosovo".