Foreign Ministry sets record straight on PM’s visit to Italy

Thursday, 9 September 2021 02:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Confirms no audience with Pope but to deliver keynote at intl. event

The Foreign Ministry yesterday set the record straight on the upcoming visit to Italy by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa saying it does not include a call on the Vatican.

The statement follows various reports against a likely meeting between Prime Minister and the Pope in the backdrop of failure on the part of the Government to take proper action yet on the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019.

“The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will shortly make a visit to Bologna, Italy to participate in an international event which is to be graced by the Prime Minister of Italy and other dignitaries from Italy and other European countries,” the Foreign Ministry said.

“The Foreign Minister, at his briefing conducted on Monday 6 September, clearly described the purpose of the scheduled visit. The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the opening session of the international symposium, which will be held in one of Europe’s oldest seats of learning, the University of Bologna.

“At no stage has the Prime Minister requested nor has he received an invitation to visit the Vatican for an audience with His Holiness, the Pope. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister will be leaving Italy, at the conclusion of the events in Bologna.”