President wants UN to place due emphasis on non-interference in domestic affairs

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addressing the high-level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa stressed the importance of the United Nations placing due emphasis on non-interference in domestic affairs of states yesterday.

“We expect the United Nation will place due emphasis on non-interference in domestic affairs of other states,” Rajapaksa said in a pre-recorded statement at the High-Level Meeting to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations.

“At a time when the world is facing a common and an unrivalled threat, the ‘United Nations We Need’, I am certain, will place due emphasis on the sovereign equality of States, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in their domestic affairs,” President said.

President said that he firmly believes that partnerships fostered between Member States and the UN continues at their best when no country is held hostage to the interests of a few. 

UN Member States agreed in June 2019 that the UN will mark its 75th anniversary with a one-day, high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly on Monday, 21 September 2020 on the theme, ‘The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism’.

The President of the 75th Session of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkir made the opening statement at the meeting where leaders and delegates of 180 countries made their representations.

“The world is plagued by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which has jeopardised our economies, health systems and indeed our societies, just within a few months,” President Rajapaksa observed.  

“Sri Lanka was able to successfully face the challenge of COVID-19 through a proactive intervention. We established the National Action Committee for Preventing COVID-19 even before the first patient was detected in Sri Lanka. Our approach synchronised the military, health as well as civilian authorities of national and regional levels.

“Sri Lanka’s recovery rate stands at over 90% well above the global recovery rate.  Our success story owes much to our reliance upon ‘tracing and quarantine’, which was our greatest strength, 

“Sri Lanka is hopeful that we of the United Nations would rededicate ourselves in efforts to strengthen this great institution to ensure the future we want. We owe our peoples and future generations no less,” President Rajapaksa stressed. 

The full text of President Rajapaksa’s statement is given below:

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies: Ayubowan!

Your Excellency Volkan Bozkir, I congratulate you on being elected as the President of the 75th Session of the General Assembly. 

I am deeply honoured to represent the people of Sri Lanka on this historic occasion. 

Unfortunately, the world is not what the founders of this august body envisaged 75 years ago. 

The world is plagued by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which has jeopardised our economies, health systems and indeed our societies, just within a few months.  

Sri Lanka was able to successfully face the challenge of COVID-19 through a proactive intervention. We established the National Action Committee for Preventing COVID-19 even before the first patient was detected in Sri Lanka. Our approach synchronised the military, health as well as civilian authorities of national and regional levels.

Sri Lanka’s recovery rate stands at over 90% well above the global recovery rate.  Our success story owes much to our reliance upon ‘tracing and quarantine’, which was our greatest strength. 

Sri Lanka has not reported a single case arising within the local society for over a month now.

Excellencies, 

Sri Lanka has committed to the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development. Poverty alleviation through an agri-based production economy is a major goal of my Government. 

The steps that we had initiated earlier this year for enhancing local production, partial restrictions on imports as well as assisting small and medium scale entrepreneurs paid their dividend. 

As we celebrate 65 years of UN membership this year, Sri Lanka is pleased to have contributed significantly to United Nation’s agenda, ranging from peacekeeping operations to programs of its specialised agencies. 

At a time when the world is facing a common and an unrivalled threat, the “United Nations We Need”, I am certain, will place due emphasis on the sovereign equality of States, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in their domestic affairs.

Excellencies,

I firmly believe that partnerships fostered between Member States and the UN continues at their best when no country is held hostage to the interests of a few. 

Sri Lanka is hopeful that we of the United Nations would re-dedicate ourselves in efforts to strengthen this great institution to ensure the future we want. We owe our peoples and future generations no less.