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| Sunday, 29 May 2005 |
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Training course for foreign service personnel Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar inaugurated the Foreign Service Training Course for officers of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service at the Sri Lanka Institute of International Relations in Colombo on Wednesday. The course will be a permanent feature of the Foreign Service and will be open to all members, not only the newly recruited entrants. Its objective is to provide a comprehensive program to help Foreign Service Officers to better carry out their functions as diplomatic representatives of the country. A wide range of topics relating to Sri Lanka's foreign relations - both bilateral and multilateral, the country's cultural heritage, diplomatic practice and protocol procedure, international law and treaty responsibilities, the United Nations system, issues of national interest such as the peace process, economic and trade related policies, post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction, consular affairs and welfare of Sri Lankans abroad, negotiating skills, media relations, reporting and public speaking will be covered by a number of eminent persons with wide experience in these subjects. Minister Kadirgamar added that there are no permanent interests for a country, as interests change. A good example is the current shift of focus from purely political viewpoints to economic perspectives, seen in foreign policy decision-making in the modern world. He noted that diplomatic officers representing the State abroad have to uphold and safeguard the national interest of the country at all times. The Minister added that while foreign policy reflects a country's domestic policies, no country can make foreign policy decisions in isolation, since a country would have to take into consideration not only its own national interest and domestic policies, but also its relations with its neighbours and other key actors in constantly changing international circumstances. |
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