A landmark visit

Sri Lanka will today roll the red carpet for Iranian Leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who is among one of the most high profile leaders to set foot in this island.

The significance of the visit cannot be overemphasised at a time more and more Third World countries are gravitating towards each other amidst attempts to isolate or penalise them by the world's superpowers.

Iran is one of the few countries which has stood up squarely against this hegemony and has asserted itself as an independent nation.

It is hoped that today's visit would open a new chapter in the relations between Sri Lanka and Iran which already goes back deep in history into the time of the Persian kingdom, and underline the solidarity between the two nations.

The visit is also significant in the context of the Iranian leader responding favourably to an invitation for a reciprocal visit made by President Rajapaksa during his visit to Iran in November last year and is ample testimony to the brotherhood and empathy between the two leaders that auger well for furthering the existing bilateral ties between the two countries.

On that visit the two leaders signed several agreements beneficial to Sri Lanka chief of which relating to assistance for the construction of the multi-purpose Uma Oya project which would engineer a giant leap in the country's irrigation and power sectors.

Iranian aid will also be granted for increasing the daily production capacity at the Sapugaskanda refinery from 50,000 barrels of crude oil to 150000 barrels of refined oil.

The Iranian leader and President and President Rajapaksa will ceremonially declare open work on the Uma Oya project tomorrow in Wellawaya for which the Iranian Government will provide funds. This project will be an immense boost to agriculture and power generation.

Iran today is a modern nation which is able to assert itself in the international arena despite the array of forces ranged against it over its peaceful nuclear programme. Its exemplary and fearless leadership has had a catalytic effect on the Middle East in general and small nations in particular which hitherto were forced to toe line of the superpowers.

Its defiance in the face of threats and intimidation has made the Iranian leader a hero within the islamic world and a springwell of hope for lesser nations.

There is much that we as a nation could learn from the Iranian experience in the from of leadership and independence and steadfast resistance to outside interference which has made Iran stand out as a sentinel among Islamic world.

The visit no doubt will go a long way in cementing exiting bilateral ties between the two countries and reopen new avenues and opportunities benefiting Sri Lanka.

The discussions between the two leaders no doubt will cover a variety of topics and not unnaturally centre on the on going conflict in Sri Lanka. Iran is one of the few countries which had always been on our side against terrorism and it could be expected that Iranian leader would pledge his country's unwavering commitment to help Sri Lanka in its mission to eradicate terrorism from Sri Lanka.

It is hoped that discussions would also explore avenues of increasing tourist traffic between the two countries and that a tourism exchange programme be finalised which would make countrymen from both states interact and appreciate each other's traditions and cultural values with more travel opportunities.

Iran was also one of the countries which supplied crude oil to Sri Lanka on concessionary terms during crunch periods and it would be interesting to see if it would once again come to our rescue to soften the burden on Sri Lanka by the current escalation of global oil prices not forgetting that Sri Lanka depends on Iran for as much as 70% of her crude oil requirements. It will also be a good starting point for cooperation in the oil exploration sector.

The visit no doubt signals a landmark in relations between Iran and Sri Lanka in many respects and a window of opportunity that should be made use of to seek new opportunities and vistas that would be of immense benefit to Sri Lanka and its citizens.