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Sri Lanka yesterday invited all those who level charges against it, to visit the country and see for themselves the progress it has made since the eradication of terrorism and the peaceful environment and ethnic coexistence that exist in the island.

Aussie PM reconfirms Lanka as venue for next CHOGM

Dinesh Weerawansa in Perth, Australia

Tiger proxies and shadow organizations of the now defunct LTTE terrorist outfit suffered a major blow when Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard declared yesterday that the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in 2013, would go ahead as planned.

She denied news reports that the Commonwealth is planning to relocate the venue of the next CHOGM.

“There’s no intention to revisit the question of hosting the next CHOGM meeting,” she said.

A section of the Tamil Diaspora and shadow organizations of the LTTE, backed by several politicians in the West who depend on votes of migrants from Sri Lanka, have been making desperate attempts to tarnish Sri Lanka’s image and project a gloomy picture of Sri Lanka’s human rights record. LTTE sympathizers have often come out with concocted stories, making human rights as an effective tool to support their cause.

But they have failed with their latest attempts to mislead the international community during last month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York and this weekend’s CHOGM 2011 in the Western Australian capital.

The Australian Prime Minister’s declaration that the CHOGM 2013 will be held in Sri Lanka as scheduled will thoroughly disappoint LTTE sympathizers who have been working round the clock here with fabricated stories to undermine the success of Sri Lanka’s 2006-2009 humanitarian operation which rescued over half a million people from the jaws of LTTE terror. Many Sri Lankan Tamil migrants living in Sydney and Perth have even been offered air tickets and accommodation in Perth to show their numbers during the protests that the LTTE agents intend to plan with the intension of discrediting Sri Lanka with false war crime allegations.

Australian PM Gillard, who takes over as the Chair-in of the 54-nation Commonwealth during this weekend’s CHOGM 2011, will hand over the responsibility to President Mahinda Rajapaksa when Sri Lanka hosts the next CHOGM in two years time. The Lankan leader will have the honour of holding the responsible position from 2013 to 2015.

The decision to reconfirm Sri Lanka as the venue for CHOGM 2013 will also boost Sri Lanka’s chances of winning its bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Hambantota, which will compete against Australia’s Gold Coast. The crucial meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation will be held in St. Kitts on November 6.

The co-chairmen of the Hambantota 2018 Bid Committee - Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, who are also touring Australia with the President, are confident that Sri Lanka could secure the right of hosting the Commonwealth Games.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made this open invitation when he met Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the Pan Pacific Hotel yesterday on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government - CHOGM 2011, which is due to commence in Perth tomorrow.

The leaders of Sri Lanka and Australia had a fruitful round of bilateral talks, on a wide range of issues, held in a cordial atmosphere. Australia thanked Sri Lanka for the steps it has taken to prevent illegal migrants to Australia. Premier Gillard commended action taken by Sri Lanka’s Security Forces to prevent human smuggling.

She said nearly 400 people have drowned while attempting to enter Australian territory through illegal channels.

President Rajapaksa also praised Australia’s role in the demining activities in the North and pointed out that Australia is one of the first countries to embark on the project.

Referring to false allegations levelled by LTTE sympathizers on human rights, the President said any country which is sincerely concerned on such reports could hold bilateral talks to iron out any misunderstanding and to get first hand information in a “civilized and democratic world”. The President said that he does not believe in punishing countries and the CHOGM should be used as a platform to talk on more important issues such as alleviation of poverty and development.

President Rajapaksa told the Australian leader that the international community should patiently wait until the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report is out and the subsequent tabling of it in Parliament. He warned that the LTTE activists abroad could spread their wings unless countries in which they are living, take a tough stand on their illegal activities.

External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Cabraal were among the Sri Lankan delegation who took part in the bilateral discussions with Australia.

Queen Elizabeth II will officially open the 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) tomorrow, which will take place over three days amid tight security in Perth. “This will be a CHOGM focused on resilience, reform and renewal,” Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said.

‘Visit SL and savour its pluses’