ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has felicitated Maithripala Sirisena on his victory in the Sri Lankan presidential election, and expressed the hope that relationship between Pakistan and Sri Lanka would continue to grow during his term in office.
The 63-year-old Sirisena won the January 8 presidential election with 51.3 percent of votes against the two-time President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
In his message to the president-elect on Saturday, Nawaz Sharif termed his success as a clear affirmation by the Sri Lankan people in his leadership and vision for his country.
The prime minister underlined his confidence that the leadership of the two countries would be able to further deepen and broaden the bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
The 7th presidential election was held in Sri Lanka on Thursday, two years ahead of the schedule.
The 69-year-old Rajapakse, who served from November 19, 2005 to January 9, 2015 as the Sri Lankan president, accepted defeat in the presidential election against the former health minister Maithripala Sirisena.
Sirisena was sworn in hours after the result was announced, and promised future election campaigns would be “much more mature”.
“Even though [state media] carried out character assassination and vilified me, I can say I had the maturity to bear it all as a result of my long political experience,” he told crowds of supporters in Colombo.
