Burkina Faso FM commends President's development, reconciliation
efforts
Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of
Burkina Faso Yipene Djibrill Bassole called on President Mahinda
Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat last morning.
While thanking the government of Burkina Faso for its continued
support to Sri Lanka in international fora, President Rajapaksa said Sri
Lanka's current foreign policy has prioritized expanding and
strengthening bilateral relations among African countries. Conveying a
message from Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, Bassole commended
President Rajapaksa's "effort to develop the country and to increase
stability and reconciliation."
Mr. Bassole said one of the purposes of the visit to Sri Lanka is to
strengthen south-south cooperation. Burkina Faso being a member of the
U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), he said, "We have to show
solidarity."
Burkina Faso is one of the eight countries that abstained in the
recent vote on the resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC. Bassole
said he had been tasked with getting a first-hand look at the situation
in Sri Lanka and informing the president and the people of his country.
Bassole said the government of Burkina Faso is also interested in
enhancing cooperation between the two countries in a number of sectors,
including in the area of youth development, and looks forward to drawing
lessons from Sri Lanka's success stories.
Ambassador of Burkina Faso in Sri Lanka Idriss Raoua Ouedraogo and
the director of the Minister's Cabinet and the director general for
bilateral relations of the Burkina Faso Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Regional Cooperation, Amadou Dicko and Gnama Henri Bacye, were a part of
the Burkina Faso delegation.
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, Secretary to the
President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of External
Affairs Karunatilake Amunugama and Additional Secretary of the Ministry
of External Affairs I. Ansar also joined the meeting. |