Sri Lanka stages welcome ceremony for top Vietnamese leader with 21-gun salute

An official welcome ceremony for General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam and his high-ranking delegation took place at the Presidential Secretariat on May 8 morning (local time).

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake presided over the ceremony.

At 8:30, a mounted escort led General Secretary and President Lam’s motorcade into the Presidential Secretariat while Sri Lankan artists performed traditional dances. President Dissanayake personally greeted and invited him to the ceremonial platform, where military bands played the national anthems of both countries.

A 21-gun salute was then fired in honour of the Vietnamese leader before he inspected the guard of honour.

Following the welcome ceremony, the two leaders held talks.

Vietnam and Sri Lanka have nurtured their traditional friendship across multiple fields since establishing diplomatic relations on July 21, 1970.

That enduring bond, rooted in history and carried into the present, provides a solid foundation for the two nations to elevate bilateral ties and create new momentum for development in the new period.

The state visit to Sri Lanka by the top Vietnamese Party and State leader is expected to become an important political milestone, injecting new impetus and opening up a new phase in bilateral ties, with stronger political trust and broader, deeper, more effective and substantive partnerships.

The visit not only reaffirms Vietnam’s commitment to fostering relations with Sri Lanka but also reflects the shared determination to elevate their traditional friendship from historical depth to cooperation for mutual development and prosperity./.