‘Lankan envoys should create a positive picture of Lanka abroad’

It is the responsibility of the ambassadors to create a positive attitude about the country’s peaceful atmosphere, Prime Minister D M Jayaratne said.

The Prime Minister said so when he met Sri Lanka Ambassador designate to Malaysia Ibrahim Ansar at Prime Minister’s office yesterday.

He said, “eventhough all the communities live harmoniously in Sri Lanka the international communities have an incorrect image about Sri Lanka since this message of brotherly attitude is not conveyed to them properly.

The Embassies should intervene to create a positive attitude in the international community about the cooperation among the communities in the country,” the Prime Minister said.

Ibrahim Ansar met Prime Minister D M Jayaratne at the Prime Minister’s office before leaving Sri Lanka to assume duties as the Ambassador of Malaysia.

The Prime Minister said, “some countries like Russia lived peacefully but certain forces disturbed the peace there. In the same manner, these Western forces try to damage the internal peace of Muslim countries like Iraq, Iran and Palestine which are oil rich countries. It is obvious that same forces are conspiring to influence the peace of India through Sri Lanka. Malaysia is a country where the majority of the population is Muslim. Sinhala people live peacefully with the Muslims of the country. This is well-known to Muslims, but many countries do not have a proper understanding about this. We always receive a good support from Malaysia. We hope to receive this support constantly,” he said.

“Some people are trying to create a conflict between Buddhists and Muslims in Sri Lanka. But in true sense, this is not a Buddhist – Muslim clash, but a conspiracy of some businessmen to increase their profits, Prime Minister added.

Prime Minister’s Secretary S Amarasekara also participated at the meeting.