Foreign Affairs Minister Roitha Bogollagama stressed that the arrest of former Army Commander and presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka is not an issue to be bothered by the international community.
Minister Bogollagama addressing the media personnel in his ministry yesterday (February 09) said that rules and regulations are common for any country and the law is above all. He also said emphasized that GSP+ concession is another issue and the Sri Lankan government has always kept due guidelines of good governance to receive the concession. “We have maintained due guidelines and no need go for over steps’, the Minister Bogollagama said.
Minister was briefing over the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s three-day official visit to Russia said that it was a matter of significance that the first visit abroad by the President following his decisive victory at the recently concluded presidential election was to the friendly nation of Russia.
Minister Bogollagama said that during the visit, President Rajapaksa met with his Russian counterpart, President Dmitry Medvedev with whom he had useful discussions on matters of mutual concern, including global and regional developments. “During the bilateral discussions, there was general agreement between the two leaders that peace and development in the 21st century world can best be attained through a mixture of multilateral and regional cooperation, based on the principles of friendship and respect for sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs.
President Rajapaksa made special reference to the strong support extended to Sri Lanka by Russia and some other friendly nations during the Government’s operation to defeat terrorism last year. He observed that Russia’s considerable global influence was very helpful in ensuring that the attempts by the terrorist forces to leverage world sentiment in their favor and escape, did not materialize”, the minister added.
President’s visit to Russian has also finalized two Agreements. The first, an MOU for the promotion of mass communications, is aimed at augmenting people-to-people contact and cultural relations between the two countries. The other is the soft loan of 300 million US Dollars which will be used among others for the purchase of multi-purpose equipment including for defence.
The Foreign Affairs Minister also said that the Russia will help Sri Lanka with the country’s renewable energy sector, education, tourism, airlines and several other identified fields.
Minister Bogollagama also reminded that Sri Lanka and Russia had always had a close and cordial relationship. “The current visit by the President is the first high-level visit to Russia after 36 years, the last being by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1974”, the Minister added.
- Asian Tribune -
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