Your Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
I am pleased to attend the 18th Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Asia Cooperation Dialogue held on the side-lines of the 78th UNGA in New York. I am particularly pleased that we are able to meet in person for the first time since 2021, given that the last Meeting of ACD Foreign Ministers hosted by Turkey, was held virtually in the midst of the Covid pandemic.
I would like to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain for hosting this meeting and for its leadership of ACD over the past two years. We also appreciate the Secretary General and his team's contribution.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the senior officials for their efforts in preparing for our consideration the Bahrain Declaration on Post-Pandemic Sustainable Recovery.
I am glad that the Bahrain Declaration emphasises the recovery efforts of the ACD as a regional organisation in the wake of the Covid pandemic through collaboration. Sri Lanka is cognizant of the contribution science, technology, and innovation could make to the ACD 2030 Agenda and the need for collaboration to mitigate the effects of global issues such as the Covid pandemic. When the Covid pandemic swept the globe, the value of novel approaches to problem-solving became evident.
Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
We must be proud of the rich, multifaceted heritage that Asia possesses. Indeed, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue is a crucial mechanism for restoring the cooperation that once existed between Asian nations. ACD's objectives, duties, and principles of the Dialogue as a pan-Asian platform where high-level policymakers can exchange ideas and experiences that will contribute to regional development and the future of an Asian community are extremely pertinent.
In conclusion, I would like to express Sri Lanka’s fullest support to the incoming Chair, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in promoting the objectives of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in the interest of the region.
Thank you.
