Sri Lanka has warned the United States from pushing foreign solutions as an answer to domestic issues the country is facing.
External Affairs Minister GL Peiris was addressing the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars on Tuesday as part of his four-day official visit to the US and stressed the need for a home-grown solution.
"We are conscious of the opportunity that has now presented itself. We also realise that the process that we have in mind must be a domestic process. It can't be donor-driven or foreign-owned. That will be unhelpful in implementing the reforms that are required at this moment in history,"
"At the end of the day, the solution that everyone wants has got to have a home-grown element to it."
Mr Peiris sought to address concerns about Sri Lanka’s human rights situation and said the government had started a process to implement the recommendations of the LLRC in “a meaningful way”.
He said that Sri Lanka’s immediate concern after the war was resettlement of those displaced and economic development of the North-East, claiming that over 98% of IDP’s had been resettled.
“Ninety-eight percent of the people who were displaced by the conflict have been resettled, And they have not just been returned to their homes. We have seen to it that resettlement has occurred in an environment of confidence and satisfaction.”
“We believe in reconciliation, but economic development is a crucial component of a wider reconciliation,” he said.
“The economy of the Northern Province grew by 22 percent in 2011, while for the country as a whole it was 8.3 percent. This is the result of sustained and substantial investment and development in infrastructure in that part of the country.”
Mr Peiris is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday, the 18th of May.
