Participating at the Our Ocean Conference 2016, at the invitation of the US Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, on 15 September, outlined several commitments by Sri Lanka to protect oceans around Sri Lanka and beyond.
Special Envoy of President Maithripala Sirisena, Hon. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Skills Development and Vocational Training will lead the Sri Lanka delegation to the 17th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) being held from 13-18 September in Margarita Island, Venezuela. In addition to the Summit, Minister Samarasinghe will also represent Sri Lanka at the Ministerial segment to be held from 15-16 September 2016. The Sri Lanka Ambassador to Venezuela, resident in Havana and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated at the preceding Senior Officials Meeting from 13-14 September 2016.
The Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka condemns the nuclear test carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 9th September 2016. Sri Lanka notes with concern that this is the second such test to be carried out by the DPRK this year.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera visited the Republic of Slovenia from 4-8 September on the invitation of Hon Karl Erjavec, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia to attend the 11th Bled Strategic Forum 2016. During the visit, Minister Samaraweera met with President Borut Pahor, Prime Minister Miro Cerar, Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec and Minister of Economic Development and Technology Zdravko Počivalšek and reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to strengthening and consolidating the longstanding relations between Sri Lanka and Slovenia and identifying new areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in the High Commissioner of Malaysia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning, 5 September to express the condemnation of the Government of Sri Lanka, on the assault carried out by a group of persons yesterday Sunday 4 September 2016, on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia, in a restricted area of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, while he was in the process of carrying out his official duties.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee, established by the Cabinet of Ministers, to develop a national human rights action plan for 2017-2021, has decided to call for observations or views from all stakeholders, including civil society and interested organisations on the drafting of the new five year human rights action plan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms reports that Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Malaysia had been assaulted by a group of persons at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport today, 4 September 2016.
The Government of Sri Lanka condemns this act of violence on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Malaysia, in the strongest terms.