Commonwealth Chief says Sri Lanka’s reconciliation and human rights vastly improved

Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland praised Sri Lanka’s progress in strengthening democracy and reconciliation. Sri Lanka’s progresses in many fields are appreciable, she said.

She said that Sri Lanka’s resilience was greatly evident from the restoration of normalcy quickly after the tsunami disaster in 2004, and many countries could take lessons from Sri Lanka’s success story.

When Secretary General Scotland called on President Sirisena at the Loews Regency Hotel in New York on 28September, the President briefed her on the progress made in the last three and half years in reconciliation, strengthening democracy and restoration of human rights.

She said that in his recent visit to Sri Lanka, she saw the positive developments taking place on all fronts, and congratulated the President and the Government. The President invited the Secretary General to pay another visit to Sri Lanka at her convenience.

She said the Commonwealth would continue to extend support to Sri Lanka’s efforts towards development and reconciliation. She said the Commonwealth could assist Sri Lanka to enhance negotiating skills on bilateral trade and investment negotiations under the proposed Commonwealth Best Practices Framework.

President Sirisena said Sri Lanka considerederadication of illegal drugs and climate change as major challenges, and asked the Commonwealth to expand activities in these areas as they would benefit most of the 57 member states. Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana, Permanent Representative to UN Dr Amrith Rohan Perera, and two senior Commonwealth officials were present during this discussion.