Navanethem Pillay’s visit is on a Govt. invitation – Minister Keheliya

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay will be visiting Sri Lanka on an invitation of the government, and it is not a visit to give instruction, and the government is not bound to take any advice or instructions from her or her team.

This was stated by the Minister of Mass Media and Information Keheliya Rambukwella addressing the Cabinet Decisions announcement meeting held at the Ministry of Mass Media and Information Auditorium on Thursday (09).

The Minister said that parliamentary delegations from India and Britain also made such visits to Sri Lanka recently, and that this kind of visits will help to enlighten the international community about the progress and development achieved by Sri Lanka after ending terrorism, and also to counter the allegations being made by certain local and international elements on the behest of the pro-Tiger terrorist groups overseas.

Countering the opinions being floated by certain pro-tiger terrorist elements saying that Navaneethan Pillay’s proposed visit has made a shift in government policy, the Minister emphatically said that the government stands on its policy of solving issues related to internal matters of Sri Lanka through homegrown solutions. He further said that the government has even requested the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jeyalalitha Jeyaram to visit Sri Lanka and get first hand information of the work being done by the government for the welfare of the Tamil people rescued from the clutches of the LTTE. He pointed out that the government even welcome visits by persons like Karunanidhi and Vaico.  (niz).