President tells NAM leaders at 15th summit:

Sri Lanka : Role model in fighting terrorism

President Mahinda Rajapaksa told the 15th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Egypt that the Sri Lankan nation now looks to the future with renewed hope and enthusiasm.

“We have faith that all our friends who stood by us in our hour of need will continue to stand by us and walk with us in our journey to develop Sri Lanka for the benefit of all our people.”

The following is the full text of the statement made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 15th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on Wednesday.

It is with great pleasure that I address you today in this historic land of a great civilization and a fountain-head of the Non-Aligned Movement. Let me thank the Egyptian authorities for the wonderful hospitality extended to me and my delegation. I also wish to thank President Raul Castro for his efficient and inspiring stewardship of our Movement, through challenging times.

Mr. Chairman,

Representing a founding nation of our Movement, I am honoured to speak today on several current issues of relevance to us. I note some of the useful suggestions made by H. E. Muammar Ghaddafi.

I am proud to announce that my country has succeeded in eliminating one of the most brutal terrorist groups in the world. This group was not a liberation movement but an anti-national separatist cult that glorified violence. Sadly they were able to propagate their cult of violence and hatred in some countries which, for understandable but unjustifiable political reasons, seemed less than forthright in their opposition to terrorism that did not seem to threaten them.

Terrorism threatens and diminishes all of us, so we are grateful to our friends, especially in the Non-Aligned Movement, who helped and stood by us consistently through our most difficult times. Sri Lanka has consistently condemned terrorism in all its forms and therefore we are happy at our success in defeating terrorism on our soil, and hope that the world, like our principled friends here will rejoice with us and not begrudge a victory they should hope will be repeated elsewhere.

For 27 long years my people were gripped by mortal fear. A great sigh of relief has now swept across the entire nation being finally released from the grip of the fear of terrorism. The Sri Lankan Nation now looks to the future with renewed hope and enthusiasm. We have faith that all our friends who stood by us in our hour of need will continue to stand by us and walk with us in our journey to develop Sri Lanka for the benefit of all our people.

Our Government is aware that defeating a terrorist group does not solve the underlying grievances of our people. We are therefore now dealing with these issues. First and foremost, we are engaged in attending to the needs of the 287,000 civilians who were held hostage by the terrorists and liberated by our Security Forces. Our goal is to quickly return the displaced to their homes and to restore their livelihoods.

The needs of the displaced are substantial, and we welcome and thank all those in the international community who have offered us assistance. I take this opportunity to thank the United Nations, and the Secretary General in particular who visited Sri Lanka and extended UN assistance. I also thank those countries that have given generously to benefit our people who suffered for so long with no one to speak for them when under terrorist domination.

Our society is a caring society, and people from all parts of the country have come forward to assist those who were displaced. We are confident that our Government, together with our civil society, and with the support of our international friends, will ensure that all displaced persons resume their normal lives very soon, and partake fully in the social, political and economic development on which my government has embarked. We have noted the comments made by our colleagues with regard to the use of sanctions against individual countries. Sanctions, whatever the cause, only punish the people of that country. Punishing a people must never be endorsed by the international community.

The world is today confronted by a crisis that is essentially the creation of the financial markets of certain developed countries. As a consequence of his financial crisis, our development agenda is challenged; our exports are crippled; our industries are suffering from a lack of confidence; and we face an externally induced liquidity shortfall. It is unfortunate that many countries of the developing world, which largely with their own resources climbed up the ladder of development, are adversely affected and even penalized in this manner due to the global financial crisis which was not of their own making.

The rescue packages currently being implemented seem to focus essentially on helping the economies of developed countries. This is short-sighted, as the world today is inter-linked and inter-dependent as never before. There cannot be a satisfactory outcome to this crisis unless these packages are designed to help developing country economies as well. Among other measures, we urge the consideration of temporary deferment of debt repayment as an essential short-term initiative to overcome current difficulties of the affected developing countries.

We believe in self-help and solidarity which are hallmarks of our movement as well. In this spirit, I would like to propose that we combine our substantial collective resources to establish an Emergency Financing Facility which could be accessed in situations of the current sort. For far too long, global financial institutions have been dominated by traditional economies.

Today the world economy is different. We must not be bound by a framework that is outdated and ineffective. The global financial architecture must reflect current circumstances, be democratic and, until such time, it would be sensible to establish a Reserve Facility of our own to assist fellow developing country in emergency situations.We have another serious problem affecting our home, the Planet Earth. Human activity is causing the global climate to heat-up at an alarming rate. This will have far-reaching consequences for animal and plant life and for human civilization.

In our own region, South Asia, sea-level rise resulting from climate change will bring serious consequences to a number of countries, including the inundation of coastal lowlands and the contamination of fresh water sources. Again, our own region will be affected by prolonged droughts, shortages of drinking water and, in some areas, unseasonal rains and glacier melting.

All this will result in serious adverse implications for agriculture, fisheries and related industries. There is a clear possibility of environment-related issues becoming a challenge to our region. We must address this difficult problem in a pragmatic manner. I continue to believe that those who polluted our Planet through rapid and indiscriminate industrialization, and who continue to pollute in disproportionate quantities, must bear the primary burden in addressing this problem.

Of course developing countries must play their role in addressing the threat of climate change; but this should not be done in a manner where we would have to make unfair sacrifices, compromising progress towards poverty alleviation and the prosperity of our people. It is vital in particular that, in an era of increasing concern for human rights, we address the consequences for the poor of pollution, and ensure mechanisms for compensation when basic rights, for life, for health, for development, are violated.Developing countries must be assisted technologically and financially to follow a different development model from the ones which have resulted in damage to our Planet.

There must be recognition of the carbon debt owed by developed countries to developing countries, and the low per capita carbon emission rate of developing countries.

Those countries which have managed to preserve their tree cover that is now acting as an Earth Lung should be given credit for what they have preserved and continue to nurture.

As the current Chair of SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, Sri Lanka has taken the lead in mobilizing our region to address the most acute challenges that currently face our region, namely terrorism and the impact of the global financial crisis. Our collective vision has since resonated in many international fora. SAARC which is a small group of countries has a permanent Secretariat of their own.

Unfortunately, the Non -aligned Movement though existing for over five decades has not been able to establish a permanent Secretariat so far. I strongly propose that we the leaders of Non-aligned countries come together to establish a permanent Secretariat for our movement.

On this occasion, let us re-dedicate ourselves to work in solidarity towards; Peace and security of societies where any manifestation of terrorism will never be allowed, and the sovereignty of our nations is promoted and preserved; A financial architecture and facilities that are specifically focused on the needs of developing countries; and a green planet with equity best responsibilities and benefits.

May the Noble Triple Gem Bless You all.

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Sri Lanka commended at NAM Summit

Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said the world leaders of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) countries commended Sri Lanka’s landmark achievement in defeating terrorism in Egypt last week.

Addressing the media at the Foreign Ministry in Colombo on Friday, the Minister said that the successfully concluded Non Aligned Summit (NAM) held at Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, with the participation of 60 heads of State and 118 foreign ministers congratulated Sri Lanka for defeating terrorism and establishing peace in the country.“Sri Lanka, as a founder member of NAM had hosted the fifth summit in 1976 under the premiership of the late Sirimavo Bandaranaike just a year after the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) had killed the then Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiyappah. Members of NAM come together to highlight issues facing the developing world and in this forum President Mahinda Rajapaksa emerged as a clear leader on defeating the LTTE,” said Minister Bogollagama.

President Rajapaksa had in his address emphasized the importance of all NAM members standing together to defeat terrorism while at the same time resolving to have an integrated agenda for the benefit of NAM. The aspects of global warming and climate change were also addressed by the President, said Minister Bogollagama.

At the ministerial conference Minister Bogollagama had articulated the need for NAM to face the challenges of the developing world by working towards having close relationships and maintaining peace. “Sri Lanka’s stand on Palestine was expressed - two States solution with security for the Palestinian people and a harmonious environment for world peace,” he said.

While President Rajapaksa had one on one meetings with many heads of state - President Raul Castro of Cuba, Col. Muammer Gaddafi of Libya, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh of India, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa amongst other leaders, the talks had centred on promoting bilateral ties, the economic, commercial and social agenda, and the defeat of terrorism for which Sri Lanka came in for commendation.

The President had also discussed the current development in the country, progress in the northern front and success in addressing issues concerning the internally displaced persons (IDPs) within a short period of eight weeks with the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. The Jaffna Municipal Council and the Vavuniya Urban Council elections were also discussed and also of the assistance given by the UN agencies, local and international non governmental organisations, and measures adopted for the early resettlement of the IDPs.

Minister Bogollagama also spoke of the steps taken to de-mine several areas in the north by engaging around 2000 de-miners who have had training by the military with assistance also provided by India and Japan.

(Courtesy: Asian Tribune)

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