Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath has concluded his official visit to Belarus with a formal invitation to flag carrier Belavia Airlines to launch direct flights between Colombo and Minsk, the Foreign Ministry confirmed.
The invitation, extended at a business and tourism round-table in Minsk that included Belavia and major Belarusian travel agencies, was framed against the growing volume of travel between the two countries. Over 10,000 Belarusian tourists visit Sri Lanka annually, and roughly 3,000 Sri Lankan students currently study at Belarusian universities, particularly in medicine.
Both sides agreed to hold the next round of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade & Economic Cooperation and the third round of political consultations later this year. Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov accepted Herath’s invitation to visit Sri Lanka at a mutually convenient time, providing the first hard reciprocal commitment of the engagement cycle.
Herath also held detailed talks with Education Minister Andrei Ivanets, Health Minister Aliaksandr Khajayeu, Transport and Communications Minister Alexei Lyakhnovich and the deputy ministers of Agriculture and Industry. He visited the Belarusian State Medical University in Minsk, where most of the Sri Lankan student community is enrolled.
The Belarusian side appreciated Parliament’s recent approval of free Electronic Travel Authorization for citizens of 40 countries, including Belarus.
The visit closes an intensive week of bilateral engagements following the Air Services Agreement and education and health MoUs signed on May 14, the Minsk business and tourism round-table on May 15, and the healthcare MoU on medical education — capping the first high-level Sri Lankan engagement with Belarus in over a decade.
