Friday, 1 November 2013 03:46
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Wellington: New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully plans to visit Sri Lanka’s north to get a firsthand look at the civilian life in the conflict-affected region.
Minister McCully will make the trip to the North during his visit to the island to participate in the next month’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo.
“While in Sri Lanka I plan to travel to the predominantly Tamil northern region to see firsthand what life is like for civilians following the end of the decades-long civil war in 2009,” the Minister said in a New Zealand Government statement.
He said New Zealand has a strong interest in the progress being made on reconciliation and devolution in the north.
After the visit to the north, McCully will report back to the New Zealand Prime Minister on the situation in the North ahead of the CHOGM Leader’s Retreat.
The New Zealand Minister, who is starting a two-and-a-half week trip through Europe and Asia today, will attend the CHOGM in Colombo from 15-17 November.
“CHOGM sets the Commonwealth’s agenda for the coming two years, and with 53 member states home to more than two billion people, a number of significant global issues will be up for discussion,” the Minister said.
