At 50th Anniversary Meeting in Belgrade
(September 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) During his visit to Belgrade to attend the commemorative meeting of Foreign Ministers to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement, Professor G.L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, was received by Mr. Boris Tadic, President of Serbia. The Minister comprehensively briefed the Serbian President as well as the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister of Serbia, Mr. Vuk Jeremic and Mr. Dragan Sutanovac, whom he met separately, about the current situation in Sri Lanka.
The Minister of External Affairs took advantage of his participation in this historic meeting to have a series of bilateral discussions with his counterparts in countries belonging to the NAM grouping, to acquaint them with current developments in Sri Lanka in the fields of rehabilitation, reconciliation and revival of political and electoral processes.
The Non-Aligned Movement, in terms of its ideals and its contribution to international relations, remains as relevant and of as much value today as it was in 1961 when it came into being in this very city, Professor G.L. Peiris said in the course of his address at the plenary session.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which commenced with 25 states, today counts among its members 120 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, accounting for about two-thirds of the membership of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Sri Lanka, the Minister said, takes legitimate pride in being among 25 countries which formed the Movement. Minister Peiris added: “Our association with NAM goes even further. The forerunner of the founding NAM Summit was the Bandung Conference of 1955, which our country was privileged to co-sponsor with India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Myanmar.” He continued: “The apex of our affiliation with the Movement came with Sri Lanka’s Chairmanship of NAM during the period 1975-76, when we had the signal honour of being the first Asian country to host a NAM Summit”
In his address, Prof. Peiris recalled the words of former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the Fifth Summit held in Colombo: “Any concept of domination or control exercised by some states over the fortunes of others is inconsistent with the democratization of international relations.”
Minister Peiris told the Foreign Ministers of NAM countries gathered in Belgrade that the continuing practical value of the NAM Movement is evident in several fields. Among them is the clearly perceived need today to adopt an issue-based approach to the resolution of problems, encouraging countries to make a principled assessment of situations, unfettered by a firm commitment to an ideology or a group of countries. There is also the growing acknowledgement that the basis of international relations must derive from the mainsprings of a variety of cultures, straddling civilizations in different parts of the world, without exclusive emphasis on one point of view or one body of historical experience. He emphasized the importance of collective action in such areas as counter-terrorism, food security, energy security and climate change. Pride of place must be given to ensuring that trends in the developed world should not lead to the formulation of economic policy in a manner that is detrimental to the interests of vulnerable developing nations, the Minister observed. Moreover, the use of trade agreements for the attainment of political objectives should be strenuously resisted, Prof. Peiris concluded.
Ministry of External Affairs | Colombo
 During his visit to Belgrade to attend the commemorativ...){kind=link}
Post a Comment