“CHOGM 2013 inauguration was spectacular”: Singapore PM

Monday, 18 November 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The inauguration ceremony of the CHOGM 2013 was spectacular and subsequent proceedings went well, said Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong when he called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Waters Edge on Saturday afternoon. Loong was in Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013. “Your speech at the inauguration was rich with new ideas,” he told the Sri Lankan President. President Rajapaksa briefing the visiting Prime Minister on the country’s present situation said: “We suffered for nearly 30 years from terrorism. There were killings and destruction almost every day in some part of the country during that dark period. Now peace has returned and Sri Lanka is on the path to development.”

The President said that since the end of the conflict a great deal of progress has been made in areas of resettlement, rehabilitation, reconstruction and reconciliation. Although the people are happy with what has been done, politicians with their own agendas do not, the President observed. A Parliamentary Special Committee has been established to reach consensus on political issues, he added. Loong agreed that complex issues remained for long after a prolonged war ended and more time is needed to heal wound. “We are observers and don’t take sides,” said Prime Minister Loong. A high-level delegation accompanied the Singapore Prime Minister. Prof. G. L. Peiris, Minister of External Affairs, Sajin de Vaas Gunawardena, Monitoring MP to the Ministry of External Affairs, Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the President, , Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, Karunatilake Amunugama, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs and Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in Australia were also present.