Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will visit Sri Lanka on November 2, according to a statement released by the Australian High Commission in Colombo.
During his visit, he will meet with President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Regarding his visit, Prime Minister Turnbull said, “This year marks the 70th anniversary of Australia’s bilateral relationship with Sri Lanka, and I am delighted to be able to visit Sri Lanka. I had the pleasure of meeting President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe during their visits to Australia earlier this year.
I look forward to continuing our discussions on strengthening our economic links, defence engagement, and our work together to combat transnational crime, particularly people-smuggling.”
Prime Minister Turnbull’s visit to Sri Lanka will follow his overseas visit to Israel, where he arrived on Monday. It comes on the heels of a High Court ruling which disqualified his deputy Barnaby Joyce from elected office due to his dual citizenship with New Zealand at the time of the last election. While Turnbull is in Israel and then Sri Lanka, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will temporarily assume the role of acting Prime Minister.