African Union pledges its full support to SL in combating terrorism

By Yohan Perera  
Egypt together with the African Union recently expressed its full solidarity with Sri Lanka in combating global terrorism.  
This was expressed by Charge d’affairs ad’interim Egyptian Embassy in Sri Lanka Karim Abdul-Enein at a programme on African Unity and African Union by the South African High Commission of Colombo and University of Colombo recently.  
“I express full solidarity on behalf of the Government and the People of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the African continent at large, in Egypt’s capacity as the Chair of the African Union this year, with the Government and the People of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka following the tragic events of the Easter Sunday bombings. Egypt has not spared any effort over the years to combat extremism and terrorism internally, regionally and globally. At this difficult moment that Sri Lanka is living, we are again expressing our deepest sympathies and unconditional support to eradicate the evils of terrorism from this beautiful country,” 
Mr. Abdul-Enein said.   
“We have come together today to commemorate the achievements and progress that Africa has undertaken in its ongoing quest for a brighter future. Fifty-six years have passed since the founding fathers laid the groundwork for the Organization of African Unity in 1963, in hopes of enhancing intra-African cooperation, fostering economic integration and achieving prosperity for African countries,” he added.   
“Today, the vision of our forefathers has been realized as the African Union, the successor of the Organization of African Unity, is spearheading the continent’s combined developmental efforts through the landmark “AU Agenda 2063”. The African Union is playing an increasingly critical role in addressing the major issues that face our African continent such as the proliferation of conflicts, the rise of terrorist groups, the surge in the numbers of migrants and internally displaced persons, and climate change. However, while Africa’s transformation is ongoing at an impressive rate, there are still many issues to contend with in our quest for development and prosperity, and this will require a more robust and efficient African Union,” he also said.   
“As Egypt has the honour of chairing the African Union for this year, followed next year by the Republic of South Africa, we reaffirm our commitment to continue the African Union’s institutional and financial reform process to make it a more effective and vibrant organization befitting the hopes and dreams of African peoples. Egypt also prioritizes the need to ensure sustainable funding for the African Union and its programmes through rationalization of expenditure, equitable burden sharing among member states and encouraging further support to the African Union from the international community. Egypt particularly hopes to encourage investment in the ambitious infrastructure projects that will transform Africa, like the VIC-MED project which aims to establish a navigational route between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea, and the North-South Corridor known as the Cairo-Cape Road. Such ambitious goals cannot be achieved without ensuring peace and stability in our beloved continent. which continues to suffer from multiple intractable conflicts. In this context, we prioritize strengthening the African Peace and Security Architecture” he said.   
Director General African Division Foreign Ministry Himalee Arunatilleke who was the chief guest said Sri Lanka will always acknowledge the support that have been extended by many African states in difficult times.   
“I would like to acknowledge here, the support that has also been extended to Sri Lanka by many African states, during difficult times in the UN and other multilateral fora. Close and regular interactions with African countries by means of exchanging high level visits is important in view of furthering our relations and forming common positions on matters of mutual concern,” Mr. Arunatilleke said.   
“Sri Lanka’s relations with Africa are longstanding and historical. We have formal diplomatic relations with 45 countries in the African continent, and the process is underway to establish relations with the remaining 09. Sri Lanka shares a common colonial experience with many African countries, and we have supported a number of African countries in their freedom struggles. Sri Lanka has also been in the forefront of Afro Asian solidarity. The Bandung Conference, also known as the Afro–Asian Conference in 1955 marked a significant milestone in the Asian –African relations and it provided a platform to Asia and Africa to work together for their mutual benefit. Sri Lanka played a significant role in the conference, which aimed at promoting Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism or neocolonialism by any nation. 
This conference was the forerunner to the Non-Aligned Movement where again Sri Lanka played a pivotal role. We established many positive linkages through NAM with African countries,” she said.   
“Demonstrating Sri Lanka’s commitment to developing greater cooperation with the African continent, in 2014 Sri Lanka obtained accreditation status to the African Union (AU) as a non-member State and opened a Resident Mission in Addis Ababa three years later in 2017 with accreditation to the African Union,” she added.   

I express full solidarity on behalf of the Government and the People of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the African continent at large, in Egypt’s capacity as the Chair of the African Union this year, with the Government and the People of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka