04 May 2011
By Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera
The government has decided to write to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon notifying him of the accomplishments made locally and internationally up to date in the post war period, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris told Parliament yesterday.
Making his remarks in the House for the first time after the report by the Advisory Panel to the Secretary General was released, the Minister said he had a telephone conversation with the Secretary General on Sunday when he (Prof. Peiris) was in Oman.Stressing that Sri Lanka, as a member state of the Unite Nations Organization from its inception, seriously considered its duties and responsibilities to the organization, he said the government would communicate with the Secretary General through the formal channel on the accomplishments made during the last two years.
He said the Secretary General would be given information as required by him.
“In this communication process, I will indicate the accomplishments made up to date,” he said.
With the end of the war, he said, stability and tranquility had been created not only in Sri Lanka but also in the entire South Asia region.
He said there was a period of deep turbulence in other countries such as Cambodia after their wars were completed, but such problems did not occur in Sri Lanka.
Also, the Minister outlined how safety had been created in the sea lanes in the region with the decimation of terrorism. He noted that it was moved at a recent summit in Dubai to discuss the threat posed by piracy in international waters.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US itself admitted that the LTTE was the most ruthless terrorist organization in the world,” he said.
In this manner, he said that the end of war had facilitated transnational commerce.
Commenting on the refugee issue, he said that, unlike in some other parts of the world, there was no outflow of refugees from Sri Lanka in the post war context.
The Minister outlined that the High Security Zones in the North had shrunk in size today, and thousands of ex LTTE combatants, mostly child soldiers, had been reintegrated into society after rehabilitation which included even vocational training.
Among these combatants, he said, 140 sat for the G.C.E. Advanced Level Examination and two of them had even qualified for the Medical College.
Prof.Peiris said that the government revived the economy in the North.
By Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera
External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris said he would visit India on May 16 and China on May 24 as part of the government’s “vigorous” campaign to engage the international community to present its viewpoint.
Prof. Peiris said he and other government representatives would meet representatives of non-aligned members in Indonesia on May 26 and 27 to discuss this matter.
In India, he would meet his counterpart S.M. Krishna.
DM