Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ameer Ajwad, has met Saudi Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Raed bin Abdullah Al-Kurmaili for talks on strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
The two officials exchanged views on matters of mutual interest and discussed avenues to expand cooperation and engagement, according to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh, as reported by Newswire. The meeting reaffirmed both sides’ commitment to the long-standing relationship, the embassy said.
Second Secretary and Head of Chancery Damithri Samangika accompanied the ambassador.
No specific agreements, initiatives or timelines were announced, and the embassy statement did not identify particular sectors under discussion.
Context
Ajwad took up the Riyadh posting this year and has used it to run a steady programme of sectoral engagements — among them meetings with the Saudi Council of Engineers and the Saudi investment ministry, where he presented the Port City Colombo project to potential investors.
Saudi Arabia is a significant destination for Sri Lankan migrant labour, and remittances from the Gulf remain a core source of foreign exchange for the economy.
Consular matters also form part of the mission’s workload. The most prominent open case is that of death-row migrant worker Anojan Sivarasa, over whom the President is writing to the Saudi King seeking clemency. Neither the embassy statement nor Newswire’s account indicated whether that case featured in Monday’s discussion.
