Sri Lanka chairs NAM Ministerial Meeting in Havana

(May 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka was bestowed the honour of presiding over the NAM Ministerial Meeting that concluded last Thursday(30th April) in Havana.Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,Hussein A. Bhaila, who led the Sri Lankan delegation to the meeting was invited by the host, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba to chair a session on the final day of the meeting.Earlier,Sri Lanka had been endorsed as a Vice-Chair of the NAM Ministerial Meeting by the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement in New York in March 2009.

Meeting high representatives of the Cuban Government on the sidelines of the NAM Ministerial Meeting, Deputy Minister Bhaila highlighted the importance that Sri Lanka attaches to her relations with Cuba, remarking that the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Cuba and Sri Lanka which falls in July 2009 will be a watershed in the traditionally warm and friendly bilateral ties between the two countries. He said that Sri Lanka is making arrangements to celebrate this important event in a befitting manner under the stewardship of Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.

Deputy Minister Bhaila also met the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and senior officials of developing countries, which are members of the UN Security Council, as well as members of the Organization of Islamic Conference(OIC) during his two day visit to Cuba. He briefed them on the successful humanitarian operations undertaken by the Sri Lankan security forces to rescue civilians, held as human shields by LTTE, the political process currently underway to solve the current conflict in the country and the development programmes being implemented nation-wide by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He also canvassed for observer status for Sri Lanka in the Organization of Islamic Conference, which meets at ministerial level in Damascus, Syria in July 2009.

Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Cuba,Tamara Kunanayakam,Deputy Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York,Suresh Chandra Rajaratnam and Director General, A.L.A. Azeez from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were associated with the Deputy Minister Bhaila at these meetings.

-Sri Lanka Guardian