Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera yesterday said the fresh resolution on Sri Lanka sponsored by the US, which was tabled on Thursday, is a ‘path breaking success’ achieved at the 30th session of the UNHRC.

In a media statement on the fresh UNHRC resolution on SL, Minister Samaraweera who is currently in New York attending the UN General Assembly, said it was a complete shift from the way in which Sri Lanka was perceived among the members of the international community.

He however said that presently, owing to the efforts of the new government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe since the beginning of the year, Sri Lanka had once again managed to shed its negative image and emerge as a responsible, confident and peaceful nation that respected universal values of freedom, equality and justice.

The Minister said the victory that Sri Lanka managed to achieve through the tabling of the new resolution, which Sri Lanka too had co-sponsored, was in line with the 100-day programme that reflected the desire of Sri Lankans to hold a credible investigation into alleged violations of human rights and guarantee non-recurrence.

He also said the international community had now recognised the professionalism and discipline of the Sri Lankan armed forces and added that this resolution was an endorsement by the international community of this view.

Minister Samaraweera said that a credible accountability process would safeguard the reputation and honour of those in the military who conducted themselves with professionalism and an appropriate manner during the conflict period.

“The invitation extended to the Sri Lanka security forces by the UN Peacekeeping Department to increase participation in the global UN peacekeeping and the invitation extended to President Sirisena to participate in the Summit on Peace Operations co-chaired by the US President in New York on September 28 are clear examples of this fact,” the statement said.

Furthermore, the Minister said that Sri Lanka was confident of its capacity, expertise and commitment to implement the provisions of the resolution systematically and thereby assume its rightful place among the community of nations.(Lakna Paranamanna)