Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena met with both the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres and Commonwealth Secretary General, Patricia Scotland whilst in New York last week, where they discussed “reconciliation” on the island.
The Sri Lankan president’s official media outlet claimed both Guterres and Scotland “praised Sri Lanka” for “progress”, though there have been no press releases from the UN Secretary General’s office or the Commonwealth on the meetings.
“Mr Guterres said he deeply appreciates the difficult and complex challenges faced by Sri Lanka and said the United Nations would continue to extend support to Sri Lanka’s efforts towards reconciliation,” claimed the Sri Lankan President’s Media Division. “He praised Sri Lanka’s good work in peace building, human rights and UN peace keeping.”
It added that Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland “praised Sri Lanka’s progress in strengthening democracy and reconciliation”.
The meetings took place during Sirisena’s trip to the UN General Assembly, where he rejected “foreign influence” and told an audience in New York that his government is "always fully committed to safeguard the honour, dignity and respect of war heroes from the top generals to the last private soldier".