1 October 2012 – Addressing the General Assembly at UN Headquarters in
New York, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minster, G. L. Peiris, today deplored the
selective intervention in the internal affairs of some countries, stressing
from the Assembly’s podium that conflict resolution must be based on the United
Nations principle of the sovereign equality of States.
“The noticeable recent tendency to selectively and arbitrarily intervene
in the internal affairs of States flies in the face of this principle and
dilutes the confidence so carefully nurtured in the UN system,” Foreign Minster
Peiris told the 67th
Assembly on the last day of its annual General Debate.
“Sri Lanka believes that in the settlement of international disputes,
action must be based on the fundamental principle of sovereign equality of
States, a principle firmly enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,” he
added.
In his statement, the Foreign Minister decried the “cavalier attitudes”
of the financial markets in developed countries which have led to the disruption
of millions of lives and the social fabric of many societies in the current
global economic crisis.
“A recovery without uplifting the developing countries simultaneously
will be unsustainable,” he warned, emphasizing that a significant aspect in
addressing the problem must be a restructuring of the global financial
architecture. “It is important to note that global financial power has shifted
over recent times from the industrialized North to the powerhouses of the
South.”
“It is imperative that the global financial institutions reflect these
tectonic changes in the international arena. They must now be reflected in the
global structures, including the UN, its agencies and other multilateral
institutions,” Mr. Peiris continued. “The UN can play an important role towards
achieving this end.”
He also stressed the need for assistance to help developing countries
mitigate the adverse consequences from too rigid an application of green
economic principles to combat climate change, and called on the UN system and
other development cooperation mechanisms to provide aid for middle-income
countries to achieve sustainable development.
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister is one of scores of world leaders and other
high-level officials presenting their views and comments on issues of
individual, national and international relevance at the Assembly’s General
Debate, which ends later on Monday.
