The recent visit by the King of Swaziland’s Mswati III to Sri Lanka was followed last week by two other high profile visits, those of the President of the Republic of Seychelles, James Alix Michel and that of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed. The visit by the Maldivian President is the first since he took office [...]

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SL welcomes 3 Heads of State in 2 weeks

By Chandani Kirinde
Opening of DPL missions on a reciprocal basis in a host of African and South American states on the cards
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The recent visit by the King of Swaziland’s Mswati III to Sri Lanka was followed last week by two other high profile visits, those of the President of the Republic of Seychelles, James Alix Michel and that of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed.

The visit by the Maldivian President is the first since he took office in April this year, after former President Mohamed Nasheed was ousted in a bloodless coup. During his visit, President Waheed met with members of the Diplomatic Corps based in Colombo and accredited to the Maldives, to brief them on developments since the controversial transfer of power in that country.
“Many countries that called for early election, soon after the change in administration, have come to their senses. They understand that, constitutionally, it is only possible to hold elections by July next year,” President Waheed told reporters in Colombo.

President Waheed addressing a news conference on Friday. Pic by Hasitha Kulasekera

King of Swaziland during his visit here. Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte

Seychelles President James Alix Michel

He said that, the decision on the date to hold elections, will be taken by the Elections Commissioner of the Maldives, and hence, he has no say on the matter.President Waheed said he is still contemplating whether to contest at the next presidential elections or not, but assured that, the polls will be free and fair with international monitors in attendance.

During his talks with President Rajapaksa, the two leaders agreed to extend and strengthen cooperation in human resource development, defence and security, and protection of their resources and sea lanes in the Indian Ocean.
President Rajapaksa told his Maldivian counterpart that Sri Lanka had eagerly followed the developments in the Maldives and said that, such political transition and changes should not harm the peace, prosperity and stability in a country. Meanwhile, the President of the Seychelles, who concluded a three-day visit to Sri Lanka, discussed cooperation in several areas including fisheries, maritime security, boat building, tourism and hydropower.

He also held bilateral discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, where the Lankan President thanked his Seychelles counterpart for the support extended by that country at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The two countries also signed Memoranda of Understanding/Agreement in the fields of health, education and training, employment of Sri Lankans in Seychelles and Labour Cooperation on Legal Affairs.

The visit by a string of foreign dignitaries to Sri Lanka comes at a time when the Government seeks to make comprehensive changes to the country’s foreign policy which includes strengthening diplomatic relations with both African and South American nations.

The African nations, the country will be establishing diplomatic relations shortly are, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Ivory Coast, , Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Nigeria will be the first among them to open a Resident Mission in Colombo shortly. Sri Lanka’s Mission in Abuja, Nigeria, was opened earlier this yearIn addition to these, diplomatic ties will be established with 13 Latin American countries, namely Guatemala, Suriname, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Antigua and Bermuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Akashi offers Japan’s diplomatic help 

Japan’s Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi who was on his 22nd official visit here said Japan was willing to assist in the efforts to improve relations between Sri Lanka and the international community, if requested. “We will never impose ourselves on your country. Ours is a gentle but persistent approach,” he told a media briefing in Colombo yesterday.

During his visit Mr. Akashi met with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, several ministers and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He also visited Jaffna and Kilinochchi and met resettled people and rehabilitated LTTE cadres.
The special envoy said after his visit to the north and talks with Government authorities, Japan had identified areas where it could be of assistance to Sri Lanka.

He said he decided to visit Sri Lanka this time after he learnt of the release of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations.Welcoming the Action Plan, he said there were many political issues to be resolved through mechanisms such as the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC).
Mr. Akshai who also met with Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan said it would be useful if the TNA too participated in the PSC.




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