Vietnam assures ‘utmost’ support to Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council

Saturday, 1 February 2014 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Hanoi: Vietnam has asserted Sri Lanka that it will do its “utmost” to support the island nation at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) where Sri Lanka would be challenged on the human rights and accountability issues at its next session in March. Vietnam, which is a member of the UNHRC for 2014-2016 tenure, has given this assurance when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s special envoy and the General Secretary of Communist Party, Minister D.E.W Gunasekera met Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on 23 January during his working visit to Vietnam.

Minister Gunasekera has briefed the Vietnamese leader on Sri Lanka’s successes as well as the challenges it faces, requesting Vietnam as a member of the UNHRC to provide a fair voice on Sri Lanka’s human rights issue. General Secretary Trong thanked Sri Lanka for supporting Vietnam to become a UNHRC member in the 2014-2016 tenure and asserted that “Vietnam will do its utmost to make precise utterances on Sri Lanka’s human rights issue based on the Charter of the United Nations and international law.” Commending Sri Lanka’s socio-economic achievements over the past years President Sang has also affirmed that Vietnam always supports Sri Lanka in its national development and reconciliation and has wished the country more success. Offering sympathy over the difficulties and challenges that Sri Lanka is facing currently, and noting that the two countries have enjoyed good political and diplomatic ties, President Sang has suggested that the two countries should work together to further boost trade and agriculture cooperation. The Sri Lankan Minister, while noting that the two countries share many similarities, as both countries have suffered from a prolonged war in the past, has requested Vietnam’s cooperation in national reconstruction.