The President was accorded a guard of honor and the national anthems of both countries were played during the official ceremony. The road leading out from the airport was decorated with Sri Lankan and Nepal flags to highlight the longstanding friendly ties between the two countries.
The Presidents of Sri Lanka and Myanmar, the Prime Ministers of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand, and the Chief Advisor of the Bhutanese Government will be leading their delegations to the summit.
The leaders are to adopt the 4th BIMSTEC Summit Declaration ‘Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region’ on August 31 upon the conclusion of the summit. At the conclusion of the summit, the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be handed over to Sri Lanka by the current Chair - Nepal.The summit, which also includes a retreat of the participating Heads of State and Government, will be preceded by the 16th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting and the 19th Session of the BIMSTEC Senior Officials’ Meeting.
The leaders will also witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the BIMSTEC Grid Inter-Connection. During the preceding meetings, several initiatives under agreed priority sectors will be reviewed to enhance inclusive growth and economic prosperity in the BIMSTEC region. The priority sectors of cooperation include trade and investment, technology, energy, transportation and communication, tourism, fisheries, agriculture, cultural cooperation, environment and disaster management, public health, people to people contact, poverty alleviation, counterterrorism and transnational crimes and climate change. During his stay in Nepal, President Sirisena will meet his Nepali counterpart President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Nepalese Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli on September 1. The President will also attend a banquet hosted by the President of Nepal in his honour.
President Sirisena will be visiting Lumbini on September 1 and on September 2, he is scheduled to visit the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu and attend a tree-planting ceremony.
