Sunday, October 9, 2016

Indo-Pak tensions spillover into SL

* Joint Opposition deplores govt’s ‘servile’ foreign policy
* Elaga Tamil and the succession stakes in the TNA

October 8, 2016, 6:44 pm

Speaking in parliament on Friday Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that contrary to reports published in the media, Sri Lanka had not pulled out of the SAARC summit which was scheduled to be held in Islamabad on 9 and 10 November and that the Sri Lanka foreign ministry had put out a statement saying that the environment in the region was not conducive to holding the SAARC summit only after four other nations had pulled out of the Summit and that according to the SAARC charter, the summit could not be held even if one country pulls out and by the time SL issued its statement the SAARC summit could not be held anyway. Despite this explanation offered by the foreign minister, the statement that the foreign ministry issued did indicate a pullout without mentioning the word.