Burmese head of state General Than Shwe met with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogolagama in Sri Lanka’s capital Kandy on Thursday the 12th.

Bogolagama told reporters at a news conference that the visit has strengthened bilateral relations between the two Buddhist countries.     

[Rohitha Bogolagama, Sri Lankan Foreign minister]:
"We expect this visit to reflect in terms of our traditional ties. The two countries Sri Lanka and Myanmar has grown in terms of a cultural bondage influenced by Bhuddism and that has led to the close ethnicity and friendship that we both enjoy today.  Between the two countries we have regular visits and also the peoples to peoples connectivity in terms of Bhuddism, the shrines that people visit in terms of pilgrimages, have got reflected to enhance our cooperation and to make our connectivity greater down the years."    

General Shwe's visit was to mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two Buddhist majority countries and is a reciprocal visit for one that was made by the Sri Lankan president in June this year.

This is the first visit  to Sri lanka by a Burmese Head of State in 43 years.    

General Than Shwe was scheduled to pay homage to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, one of most venerated Buddhist shrines in the world.