Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said that a draft resolution requesting the situation in Sri Lanka to be included as an emergency item on the agenda of the 118th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) held from April 13-18  in Cape Town, South Africa had been withdrawn.

The Sri Lankan delegation, upon being made aware of the proposal, had immediately made representations to the delegation from South Africa, impressing upon them the fact that Sri Lanka has never targeted civilians and had taken all measures available to ensure that there are no civilian casualties when engaging the LTTE.

The delegation had also outlined the steps taken by the Government to bring an end to the conflict, especially the initiative of a consultative process among political parties to understand the complex issues and suggest ways and means of developing constitutional reforms that enable better governance and representation.