Clinton cajole for Mahinda!

Wednesday, 21 September 2011 01:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is in New York to address the 66th UN General Assembly, yesterday participated at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting’s plenary session.

Though not part of the UN programme, Rajapaksa was among over a dozen global leaders attending the three-day CGI. The plenary session was attended by around 1,000 global political, social and business leaders. Others who attended were heads of Mexico, South Africa, Norway, Slovenia, Bangladesh, Grenada and Mali along with the President of the European Commission.

President Rajapaksa did not address the session, but other leaders spoke in a Leaders’ Dialogue on climate change. The event will deal with several other global challenges through three topics: ‘Jobs, Jobs, Jobs’; ‘Increasing Sustainable Consumption’; and ‘Empowering Girls and Women’. US President Barack Obama is slated to address it today. US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Robert O. Blake also called on Rajapaksa at his suite at the Ritz Carlton in New York. Here President Rajapaksa and founder of CGI former US President Bill Clinton greet each other. President Rajapaksa is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Friday

– Pic by Sudath Silva