Colombo, July 25 (Xinhua-ANI): Sri Lanka has urged the United Nations including the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to follow due process and be guided by objective criteria in assessing development in the country.
The External Affairs Ministry on Wednesday quoted Sri Lanka's new Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Ravinatha Aryasinha as saying that the UN and member states must not allow rump elements of the Tamil Tiger rebels based overseas, some Tamil diaspora groups and others with vested interests to 'hijack' multilateral processes to serve their narrow agendas.
"As Sri Lanka was committed to the respectful engagement with the UN system, reciprocally there was also need on the part of all of Sri Lanka's interlocutors to appreciate the difficult tasks that had been achieved by the government over the past three years since the defeating of LTTE (Tamil Tiger) terrorism," he said.
The Sri Lankan ambassador was quoted as saying this when he met Ambassador Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva.
The External Affairs Ministry quoted Tokayey as saying Sri Lanka has a long-standing relationship with the UN, and had over the years played an important role engaging with the UN's many institutions and mechanisms.
Aryasinha, while affirming Sri Lanka's deep commitment to the UN multilateral system, expressed his firm intention to undertake a multi-faceted dialogue with the UN and its mechanisms in Geneva, including in fields such as disarmament and intellectual property where Sri Lanka has played a prominent role, as well as in the humanitarian affairs arena where Sri Lanka's experience could provide useful insights.
Sri Lanka defeated the Tamil Tigers three years ago after 30 years of fighting but has since faced pressure from the UN and some countries to investigate allegations of human rights abuses committed during the final stage of the civil war. (Xinhua-ANI)
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