President’s visit will boost Australia-Sri Lanka ties Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and President Maithripala Sirisena Sri Lanka and Australia enjoy strong bilateral relations, and the current state visit of President Maithripala Sirisena will give them quantum jump, Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Australia, Somasundaram Skandakumar said. He said the bilateral cooperation between the two countries, which steadily improved over the years, has spread into new areas of cooperation in recent years. “The fact that Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull invited our President for a state visit proves the new high in our long-standing friendship, the High Commissioner said. “The last state visit took place six decades ago when Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala visited Australia, following the setting up of the Colombo Plan. Australia is a leading member of the Colombo Plan under which several programmes have been launched for the development of the education sector,” he said. Australia ...