UK defence secretary meets MS, pledges cooperation to tackle drug menace

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon yesterday pledged his government's cooperation to tackle the menacing drug problem in Sri Lanka when he paid a courtesy call on visiting President Maithripala Sirisena at the Park Lane Hilton in London.

Mr. Fallon requested President Sirisena to submit a report on the drug trade that has been on the rise in the recent past pinpointing the sources of the drugs – to which request President Sirisena readily agreed.

In a cordial one to one discussion, Mr. Fallon expressed his government's satisfaction with the way the government of President Sirisena has acted in the last few weeks. He was particularly glad about the new Sri Lankan government's desire to promote reconciliation and inter-communal harmony when President Sirisena explained that lands that had been taken over by the armed forces during the conflict had been returned to their rightful owners not only in the North and East but also in the High Security Zones in Colombo.

'President Sirisena while pointing out that the government was only two months old told Mr. Fallon that a Presidential Task Force had already been appointed to provide short term, medium term and long term solutions to the North-East problems and further time was necessary to see the work launched by the government come to fruition.

Mr. Fallon in response said the British government would never underestimate the positive measures taken so far by the Sri Lankan government towards strengthening reconciliation and would support them. He added that the government's decision to stop armed forces personnel from doing menial jobs was a step in the right direction.

President Sirisena said the government had provided all facilities and assistance to the North and East, and two civilian governors had been appointed in place of the ex-army officers who had served as governors of two provinces.

President Sirisena told Mr. Fallon that Sri

The British government would never underestimate the positive measures taken so far by the Sri Lankan government towards strengthening reconciliation and would support them

Lanka had already sent several contingents of armed forces personnel and also a few helicopters to join the UN peacekeeping force, when Mr. Fallon requested him to make Sri Lankan armed forces personnel available for UN peacekeeping work.

President Sirisena told Mr. Fallon that Sri Lanka was committed to maintaining a non-aligned foreign policy and to maintain a close and friendly relation with all nations when the latter wanted to know why his first foreign visit had been to India. When Mr, Fallon wanted to know about the naval links between Sri Lanka and China and was concerned about a possible increase in the Chinese naval presence in the Asian region, President Sirisena responded by saying that Sri Lanka had signed agreements on defence cooperation with the UK too.