Maldives president, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has extended felicitations to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa on completing 50 years of service to the neighboring nation, as a parliamentarian.

In a Twitter post on Wednesday afternoon, the president “happily” noted that during PM Rajapaksa’s long years of service, he has also been a “great champion” of the close ties Maldives and Sri Lanka have enjoyed over the years.

Rajapaksa became Sri Lanka’s youngest parliamentarian, in 1970 during his early 20s and served as the country’s sixth President as well.

In 1977, Rajapaksa pursued studies in law and took oath as an attorney-at-law.

The Sri Lankan PM as served as the Minister of Labour as well as Fisheries and Aquatic Resources throughout the years.