Our first task in our rise to be among the great nations of the world, is to ensure lasting national unity and sustainable, permanent peace in our motherland, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.
Addressing the nation after swearing in for the second term of office today at the Presidential Secretariat he called to be united to build a great country.
" Out policy is one of non-alignment, he said adding, ‘we do not have enemy states or such groups or blocs. During the last era, we worked with many nations in agreement and friendship for national security. We now step into the development era. We extend our hand of friendship to those who assist us in this endeavour", he said.
We have the inherited wisdom to tolerate all opinion and take mature decisions. We have a tradition of understanding our problems and conflicts and finding solutions for them, he further stated.
‘We are not a miniature of a developed country. We are Sri Lanka. Our motherland is Sri Lanka’.