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| Sunday, 16 June 2002 |
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Message from British envoy This year is a time of very special celebration in the United Kingdom and throughout the Commonwealth as we mark Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee. This commemorates not only 50 years since Her Majesty the Queen acceded to the throne but also the central role that the Queen has played as head of the Commonwealth over the last fifty years. And on 15 June we also celebrate the Queen's official birthday as our National Day. Many changes have taken place during these fifty years - within Britain within the Commonwealth, and in the wider world. During her Silver Jubilee the Queen declared that the Commonwealth symbolised 'the transformation of the Crown from an emblem of dominion into a symbol of free and voluntary association. In all history this has no precedent.' Sri Lanka was one of the founding nations of the Commonwealth and has always played a strong and active role within the organisation. The relationship between the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka is a long-standing and close one. The last year has seen many high-level visits to the UK, most recently by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Such visits present a valuable opportunity to increase co-operation and understanding between our two countries; we hope for more such visits over the coming year. Britain warmly welcomes the considerable progress which the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE have made towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Sri Lanka beginning with the Ceasefire Agreement and moving shortly towards direct peace talks. We applaud the efforts of all parties to bring this about. There is today a genuine opportunity to achieve a lasting resolution to this conflict, in the interests of all Sri Lankans. Britain will continue to support the process and to assist with the reconstruction and development programmes to sustain peace. On the commercial front, this has been a busy year for Britain and Sri Lanka. 2001 saw trade missions from the London Chamber of Commerce and Chamber Management Services. The visits were very successful and both Chambers plan to come again this year. A successful IT seminar was held in November which attracted a large number of participants both from the public and private sector. At this time of the Golden Jubilee we are fortunate in being able to look back on a long history of mutual respect and close friendship. I believe that we may also look forward to a peaceful and prosperous future for Sri Lankans everywhere. Linda Duffield , British High Commissioner |
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