Statement: Commonwealth Sharma On Conclusion Of His Official Visit To SL
By Colombo Telegraph -February 13, 2013
“My visit provided an opportunity to be briefed on the preparations for the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), scheduled to be hosted by Sri Lanka in November, as decided by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2009 and confirmed in 2011. Preparations for CHOGM 2013 are impressive and on track.” says the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma.
We publish below the statement in full;
Sri Lanka is a founding and committed member of the modern Commonwealth. Today, I conclude what has been a productive visit to the country.
I was received by the President, His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa. I held discussions with the Speaker of Parliament, Hon Chamal Rajapaksa; the Leader of the Opposition, Hon Ranil Wickremesinghe; the Hon Minister of External Affairs, Professor G L Peiris; the Monitoring Member of Parliament for the Ministry of External Affairs, Hon Sajin de Vass Gunawardena and the Secretary to the President, Mr Lalith Weeratunga.
Others I met included the Elections Commissioner, Mr Mahinda Deshapriya; the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Justice Priyantha R P Perera as well as other members of the Commission. I also met the community of resident High Commissioners in Colombo, and in the limited time available, my delegation and I held discussions with a number of others, including representatives of political, civil society and professional groups.
These meetings were informative and valuable. They afforded the opportunity to explore how the Commonwealth’s rich network of shared resources, experiences and opportunities can be of greater assistance to Sri Lanka.
