Sri Lanka president meets Commonwealth secretary general in London

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Commonwealth General Secretary Patricia Scotland discussed the island nation’s engagement with the commonwealth secretariat in a meeting in London, the president’s media division (PMD) said.

The PMD said in a statement on Wednesday September 21 that that President Wickremesinghe discussed maters of mutual interest with the Commonwealth secretary general when he met her on Tuesday after his participation at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Wickremesinghe had met King Charles III a day earlier.  On September 18, he had attended a reception hosted by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly at the Church House, the PMD said.

Sri Lanka has been looking to improve relations with the West since President Wickremesinghe was sworn in.

On September 12, the UK handed over a new draft resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that human rights groups say is the toughest resolution on Sri Lanka yet.

However, political analysts say President Wickremesinghe has been looking to improve Sri Lanka’s relations with the West, as the country finds itself between the proverbial rock and a hard place vis-à-vis China and India.

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