Sri Lanka avoided joining the boycott of the 19th SAARC summit that was scheduled to be held in November 2016 in Islamabad , Pakistan . However a media release by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs which said it regrets that the prevailing environment in the region was not conducive for holding the SAARC summit was false interpreted by Indian media as not attending the summit . But the Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera debunked the claims saying that General Provisions of the Charter of SAARC results in the summit being cancelled even if one country does not attend thus there was no summit for Sri Lanka to attend and Sri lanka will attend the summit whenever it will be held . Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of Sri Lanka in South Asia . Sri Lanka was the first country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan , which became operational from June 12 , 2005 . 4,000 items can be imported to Pakistan from Sri Lanka . Bilateral trade between the 2 countries was US$ 400 million in early 2010 , and is expected to increase to US$ 2 billion by 2012 . In November 2010 , President Asif Ali Zardari mulled a 250 million dollar export credit line that Pakistan would extend to Sri Lanka . Trade between the two countries reached $ 500 million by the end of 2010 On February 12 , 2012 , A credit line for US$ 200 million was one of three Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU ) signed between Pakistan and Sri Lanka . The MoUs were signed during President Mahinda Rajapksa ’s official visit to Pakistan , on the invitation of President Asif Ali Zardari . Recently , the Sri Lankan Airlines has expressed an interest in expanding its operations in multiple cities in Pakistan and has also invited the Pakistan International Airlines to operate more flights to Sri Lanka . Sri Lankan Airlines chief marketing officer GT Jeyaseelan remarked that " Sri Lanka and Pakistan are two close , friendly neighbours , " and that he looked forward to enhancing cooperation between the two airlines
19th SAARC summit
19th SAARC summit
Pakistan–Sri Lanka relations