Foreign Ministry denies claims on Ravinatha

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says attention has been drawn to news reports and commentaries appearing over the past few days suggesting that the statement made by Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha at the first informal meeting on the draft resolution on Sri Lanka held on 21 September in Geneva, and the subsequent moving of amendments to the  draft resolution at the 2nd informal meeting on 22 September by the Sri Lanka delegation, was inconsistent with the position of the Government of Sri Lanka.

The Ministry stated categorically that both the interventions by Ambassador Aryasinha, and the moving of amendments to the draft resolution in Geneva, had the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is also noted that both these meetings were public events and that in addition to the respective country delegations, representatives of civil society, NGOs, Sri Lanka diaspora and journalists from Sri Lanka and abroad attended these events. (Colombo Gazette)