CANBERRA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday met with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe to celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Aside from signing two new agreements, Turnbull said the two nations would continue to work together to help end the "scourge" of people smuggling.
"The Australian and Sri Lankan navies have a strong and growing relationship with joint exercises and officer training," Turnbull said at a press conference in Canberra on Wednesday.
"We also have longstanding, close cooperation aimed at ending the scourge of people smuggling."
Wickremesinghe, when questioned about the high number of Sri Lankans who fled the country and attempted to come to Australia illegally by boat, said they were welcome to return despite breaking the law.
"They left Sri Lanka illegally. They are welcome to return to Sri Lanka and we won't prosecute them, so they can come back to Sri Lanka, and we will have them, but they broke the law in attempting to come to Australia," Wickremesinghe told the press on Wednesday.
Turnbull also took the opportunity to praise the strong bilateral relationship between the two nations, lauding cooperation in a number of key sectors.
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