The Commonwealth Secretary General has expressed disappointment with Canada’s decision to suspend funding to the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The Sri Lankan Government claims that it is not surprised over Canada’s decision.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has announced that the Canadian Government has decided to suspend the provision of a sum of 20 million US Dollars which was slated to be granted to the Commonwealth based on a human rights situation with respect to Sri Lanka which holds the current Chairmanship of the Commonwealth.
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said that he was disillusioned to hear about this decision. Issuing a statement, he called on the Canadian Government to reconsider this decision. Sharma said the difficult adjustments to Commonwealth development programmes would be made, and expressed confidence that important priorities agreed by Commonwealth member states collectively can still be delivered, with results and impact for the benefit of the people of the Commonwealth in accordance with the current strategic plan.
Issuing a statement, the Sri Lankan Government said this announcement is not a surprise. The External Affairs Ministry said
It may be recalled that when the Canadian Prime Minister announced his nonattendance of the 2013 CHOGM in Colombo, he also alluded to the issue of cutting back his Government’s contributions to the Commonwealth. Further, during conversation with a Canadian Government representative in Sri Lanka over a year ago it was mentioned that Canada was considering the rationalization of their contributions to international organizations including the Commonwealth.
The External Affairs Ministry mentioned that when Sri Lanka was to assume Chairmanship of the Commonwealth, the Canadian Government sought to make their reservations in this regard as the reason for the cut.
Meanwhile in an interview with the BBC Sandeshaya, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that he considered the decision by the Canadian Government to suspend grants given to the Commonwealth as a low grade act. The Minister described the incident as an aim to secure the votes of the Tamil Diaspora. This will harm the stature of Canada and not of Sri Lanka. He also described it as a part of the agenda which Canada had concealed in a fraudulent manner.
Minister Rambukwella pointed out that they were doing so with the intention of safeguarding their voter base. Following the influence of the Tamil Diaspora within Canada, the telecast of the T20 finals in which Sri La
Post a Comment