President ignores diplomatic protocol

External Affairs Ministry officials and responsible ministers have been faced with a great difficulty due to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s failure to adhere to accepted diplomatic protocol, a senior External Affairs Ministry official said.

The official made this statement citing several incidents that had taken place during the visit of the Indian parliamentary delegation to the country.

The official said that the Indian parliamentary delegation led by the Opposition Leader that visited the country was a second level delegation, but the President had met them twice giving the delegation an undue importance while putting the External Affairs Minister in a difficult situation.

He added that Minister Basil Rajapaksa had also ignored protocol by meeting the delegation on several occasions in Colombo and even traveling with them out of Colombo to meet CWC Leader, Minister Arumugam Thondaman in Thalawakele.

According to him, officials who pay this much attention to a second level delegation that visit the country could only be found in Sri Lanka.