Sri Lankan government Thursday said it had gifted a baby elephant to the government of the People's Republic of China, a top official said.

Karunathilake Amunugama, the Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the baby elephant named "Migara" left the Colombo International Airport in a specially chartered flight Thursday morning.

"We are pleased to gift this baby elephant to the Chinese government marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries", Amunugama told Xinhua.
 
He said along with the baby elephant a Buddha statue had also been dispatched on the same flight.

The gifts to China dispatched ahead of a scheduled official visit to Beijing by the Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse.

The Sri Lanka president is due to undertake his visit to China at the end of this month, which is the first since he assumed office late 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2007)