Britain assures help for Lanka

British Secretary of State for Defence Dr Liam Fox assured Britain’s support for Sri Lanka’s effort to rebuild the economy and move towards peace and reconciliation.

Dr. Fox made this assurance when he had discussions with External Affairs Minister Professor G.L. Peiris in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangr-La Dialogue on critical strategic and policy issues in the region.

Prof. Peiris and Dr. Fox were both participants in the Dialogue.

This was the first high level contact between President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Government and the incoming administration in the United Kingdom.

The two Ministers discussed a range of issues relating to the political situation in Sri Lanka and developments in respect of the economy. Prof. Peiris briefed Dr. Fox about the success achieved by the Sri Lankan government regarding the resettlement of internally displaced persons, the scaling down of Emergency Regulations, the appointment of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, and current initiatives in the field of constitutional reform. The Minister also briefed Dr. Fox about his recent discussions with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in New York.

President Rajapaksa has already met members of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, he said. Prof. Peiris told Dr. Fox: “The Commission is already up and running. We have not let the grass grow under our feet”.

The Minister explained that the Commission is a home-grown mechanism, sensitive to local aspirations and values, and designed to serve as a practical instrument reinforcing the healing process.