Sri Lanka has been appointed to chair the Meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). The country was proposed to the 118 high contracting parties by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), who selected Sri Lanka to represent the bloc.
Sri Lanka's ambassador to the UN, Ravinath Ariyasinhe expressed appreciation for the faith put in Sri Lanka by the group and said their acceptance showed the government's commitment to the UN's multi-lateral system.
"I am deeply humbled by the confidence placed in Sri Lanka, and the recognition of Sri Lanka's contribution to the field of disarmament over many decades - through the the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace initiative, the Conference on Disarmament (CD), the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and particularly since the ending of the terrorist conflict by its comprehensive demining programme, a key focus area of the CCW," he said.
"Our acceptance of the Chair, in turn, is yet another manifestation of the Sri Lanka's firm belief in and commitment to the UN multilateral system and the pivotal role it plays in maintaining international peace and security, notwithstanding the continued challenges it faces not only in the Conference on Disarmament, but also in many other UN and international bodies". "International security architecture, in the form of Treaties and Conventions, including the CCW, seeks to ensure that the world becomes a safer place. Sri Lanka is firmly of the view that it is time to harness their potential to contribute towards enhancing cooperative security - taking into account the security interests of all States and on the basis of the principle of undiminished security for all," he said.