President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday said he wishes to see more foreign leaders visiting Sri Lanka to experience the island’s post conflict progress.

Rajapaksa commented on the progress of the country while receiving the Prime Minister of Portugal, Pedro Passos Coelho. The Portuguese leader arrived in Colombo on a two-day visit.

The president also explained the successful military campaign which ended the three-decade-long separatist movement by the LTTE.

“It would take time to heal the wounds of war because a lot of young people died from the south and the north,” Rajapaksa said, adding the visits by foreign leaders were important.

The leaders of the Commonwealth nations who visited the country last November expressed surprise as the reports that had gone out from Sri Lanka were different from the ground reality in the island’s post conflict phase, he said.

He said the war devastated north had recorded over 20 per cent growth highlighting the government’s development work in rebuilding the infrastructure.

During the discussion with the President, Prime Minister Coelho said Portugal was interested in further improving relations with Sri Lanka, stating that it wanted “deeper relations” not only in the economic sector but also in the cultural and political areas as well.

He further stated that his visit to the country was a very good opportunity not only to discuss matters pertaining to bilateral relations between Portugal and Sri Lanka but also others of international significance.