Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Foreign Secretary, retired Navy admiral Jayanath Colombage, has announced that he would re-evaluate Sri Lanka’s foreign policy which had been orientated towards the western hemisphere.
This statement follows a landslide victory by the SLPP, in which they effectively secured a two-thirds majority and a number of calls for Western governments to placing sanctions on Sri Lanka due to human rights concerns.
Colombage further stated that Sri Lanka has established several missions in the Western world which need to be re-evaluated. According to the Daily Mirror, he stated:
“We spend a lot of money to maintain them, so their efficacy has to be re-evaluated,” he said.
Jayanath Colombage headed Sri Lanka’s Navy between 2012 and 2014 and has been foreign affair advisor to President Rajapaksa since November last year. According to News India Express, his appointment is the first time that a non-foreign service person has been appointed as the Secretary of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry.
They further report that he is one of the four ex-military officials appointed by the President to key positions after the election.
Colombage also stated that he would reevaluate the country’s foreign policy and focus closely on a “South Asia, ASEAN and Asia centric approach”.
Read more from the Daily Mirror and New Indian Express.
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