“Today we are looking at the SAARC and South Asia, but bilaterally we are close neighbours,” he said. “We have also signed a free trade agreement with India. So India could become number one in terms of imports and exports. In terms of our bilateral relations we have the best of times. In my time I will work towards strengthening it,” the Deputy High Commissioner said speaking to The Hindu.

He expressed his gratitude for India’s help in rehabilitation and resettlement programmes, adding that the welfare camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) were in very good condition.
He pointed out that the government had launched the National Framework Proposal for Reintegration of Ex-Combatants into Civilian Life in Sri Lanka, to safeguard the human rights of ex-combatants and to protect and assist them in accordance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka to ensure sustainable peace and reconciliation.

The Sri Lankan government had resource constraints, he explained, but President Rajapaksa had assigned the highest priority to development works. “He wants to ensure empowerment and equality so that every citizen, notwithstanding their birth or culture, is treated the same way. He wants to establish a bilingual nation with equal rights for all. The President’s vision is to make a unified country,” he further added.