Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 221023, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with the new government of Sri Lanka.

At the end of January I visited Sri Lanka where I met President Sirisena, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, Foreign Minister Samaraweera, and a number of Deputy Ministers of the newly elected government. I was delighted to welcome Foreign Minister Samaraweera’s to the UK in February, which was followed by the visit of President Sirisena and Foreign Minister Samaraweera in March. During this visit the President had an audience with Her Majesty The Queen and met the Prime Minister, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Whitney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Defence, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Mr Fallon). Foreign Minister Samaraweera also met the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and Minister of State for the Department for International Development, my right Hon. Friend the Member for New Forest West (Mr Swayne), as well as myself.

Meetings focussed on the new Sri Lankan government’s plans to build lasting reconciliation across Sri Lanka, and encouraging Sri Lanka to deliver on its commitments to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In particular, the Prime Minister welcomed the early commitments announced by President Sirisena to lead a more democratic and accountable government but was clear that, meaningful engagement with the ongoing UN process ahead of its report in September is central to the UK’s continued support for Sri Lanka.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in London and at the British High Commission in Colombo remain in regular and close contact with the new Sri Lankan government.