External Affairs Minister counters biases:

World urged to focus on SL’s pluses

* One of the govt’s main achievements is reconciliation

* Need to avoid preconceived judgements or partisan attitudes

The government recently underscored the importance of the international community rejoicing in the achievements of Sri Lanka in the field of rehabilitation of former LTTE combatants, reconciliation and the development of war battered areas.

External Affairs Minister Prof G.L. Peiris stressed that one of the present government’s main achievements is reconciliation. The minister explained the crucial role of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission as a sensitive mechanism which addresses, in a constructive spirit, the pain and anguish of the past and builds the foundation for a future filled with promise and expectation.

He said that any kind of presumption is a reflection of prejudice which will affect the delicate reconciliation process.

Minister Prof Peiris was addressing the members of the French political establishment, the media, diplomats, scholars and representatives of civil society at the prestigious Academic Diplomatique Internationale in Paris, recently.

Prof Peiris said reconciliation has a significant economic dimension which is amply demonstrated by the fact that the economy of the Northern province is growing by 22 per cent.

He said the government has launched a massive development drive in the Northern Province with particular emphasis on the development of highways and rail roads.

The minister gave an account of infrastructure development in the Northern region, the large volumes of capital made available by the banking system to entrepreneurs with resulting generation of employment and the revival of agricultural activity and fisheries.

Minister Peiris said that the government is in the process of integrating former LTTE combatants into society after exposure to vocational training which assured them of access to livelihoods and incomes.

Referring to the ceremony two weeks ago in Colombo where President Mahinda Rajapaksa presided over the reintegration into society of over 1,800 ex-combatants who returned to their villages, External Affairs Minister said he was proud of the success achieved in efforts to bring youth who had been misguided into espousing violence, back into the democratic mainstream. Some of them have secured admission to universities while others are gainfully employed in the public and private sectors or self employment projects.

He stressed the importance of international community rejoicing wholeheartedly in these salutary developments without any preconceived judgments or partisan attitudes.