The United Nations in New York belatedly commemorated the International Day of Vesak virtually on 2^nd July 2020. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic prevented Member States from gathering at the UN General Assembly Hall to celebrate this occasion, as in previous years. Rescheduling to July was also not without significance, as it was on the full moon day of this month that the Buddha preached his first Dhamma sermon.

The event, organized by the Permanent Missions of Sri Lanka and Thailand, featured a keynote message from Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Foreign Relations of Sri Lanka. Highlighting the value of Buddhism during this time of unprecedented global insecurity created by the pandemic, the Minister stated that the Buddha’s teachings could be a guide through this haze of uncertainty, towards light. He upheld that the practice of the four virtues of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity could ease the sufferings of mankind and generate trust and understanding. Minister Gunawardena outlined that the Dhamma is not only a religion but also a philosophy on the way of life, symbolized by a Path of Knowledge with its’ goal being the destruction of ignorance, characterized, among others, by the futility of the egoistic notion.

Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Minister of Foreign Relations, delivering a message during the virtual belated commemoration of the Day of Vesak at the UN

Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo engaged in discussions on matters of bilateral interest in a telephone conversation on 29 June evening.

US-Sri Lanka cooperation in COVID response-supply of PPEs to the US, donation of ventilators to Sri Lanka and COVID related bilateral assistance amounting to US$ 5.8 million- economic recovery initiatives, defence and security matters, counter terrorism and international economic cooperation featured in the discussions.

Minister Gunawardena briefed his US counterpart on the Review Report of the MCC, the forthcoming Parliamentary elections and thanked the US for the support extended to the reconciliation and resettlement processes in Sri Lanka.

He conveyed Sri Lanka’s felicitations for the forthcoming US Independence Day on 4^th of July.

Ministry of Foreign Relations                                                                                                

Colombo

30 June 2020

The first Board of Management meeting in 2020 of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute (LKI) was held on Tuesday, 9 June 2020 at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies under the patronage of Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena. Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha, new Members of the Board of Management of the Institute, Professor Kapila Gunawardhana, Dr Rohan Gunaratna, Mrs Suganthi Kadirgamar, Mr Kosala Wickramanayake and Executive Director Dr Ganeshan Wignaraja participated at this meeting. 

Foreign Minister Gunawardena explained the importance of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and foreign relations.

Comprehensive measures taken by the Ministry of Foreign Relations, in close coordination with the key Government Economic Agencies and the private sector to address and mitigate the impact of COVID 19 particularly on Sri Lankan exports, has helped in sustaining and regaining lost markets for traditional Sri Lankan exports, while enabling new opportunities. Exports which accounted for US $ 277 Million in April 2020, had increased to US $606 Million in May, and is expected to grow in the coming months, in line with the revised projections.

This observation was made by the Foreign Ministry’s Additional Secretary/Economic Affairs P.M. Amza, during an interview on Ada Derana on 10 June 2020, held to discuss the economic impact of COVID-19, and its demands and challenges for Sri Lanka.