More strength for Lanka, Norway ties

Wasantha Ramanayake

Ties between Sri Lanka and the Norway based on the shared values and universal ideals would further expand into new areas of cooperation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.H. Mohamed told the Norwegian National Day celebrations in Colombo.

Mohamed briefly touching on the history of the diplomatic ties between the two countries, said the relationship was first established in 1950 and the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Sweden was accredited to Norway in 1971. The Sri Lankan Consulate was established in 1999 and it was fully upgraded into a fully fledged Embassy in March 2004, he said.

Norway has been a major trading partner of Sri Lanka for more than 30 years. Norway with NORAD had been supportive of Sri Lanka in areas of rural development, social welfare in the plantation sector and rehabilitation and relief activities, the Minister added.

Mohamed pointed out that Norway played a vital role as peace facilitator between Sri Lanka and Norway and as a result bilateral relations between the two countries were further strengthened.

The Minister commenting on the country's current development said the Government was firmly committed to a political solution to address grievances of all communities and regarded the All Party Representatives Conference (APRC) process as an important mechanism in that regard.

"At the same time the Government is fully conscious to eliminate terrorism for the political process to thrive," he said.

The successful conclusion of the both local government election in the Batticaloa district and the Eastern Provincial Council Election showed that the people endorsed the Government policy of restoring democracy and development to areas hitherto controlled by LTTE terrorists for more than 14 years, the Minister added.

"No outsider or external power can solve Sri Lanka's problems. Only Sri Lankans can find a political solution to the present conflict," Norwegian Ambassadors in Colombo Tore Hattrem said.

"We believe that to bring about a sustainable political solution it must be supported by all ethnic and religious communities," he said.

The Ambassador while reiterating its commitment to assist Sri Lanka to solve the conflict if so desired by the stakeholders, however said Norway would not "stand in the way for other initiatives that have the support of the concerned stakeholders."

The ambassador pointed out that two countries celebrate 40 years of development cooperation in the current year and said assisting Sri Lanka to alleviate poverty is the main concern of the development co-operation. "Norway worked itself out of poverty in the 20th century, this is not a distant past for us," he said.