High Commission of Sri Lanka in India

President Mahinda Rajapaksa took over the Chairmanship of the G- 15 from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran at the 14th G-15 Summit in Tehran, Iran on 17th May 2010, the Minister of External Affairs, Prof. G. L. Peiris stated at a media briefing held at the Ministry of External Affairs on 18th May 2010.

The Minister stressed that the G-15 has a critical role to play in the contemporary world and has the inherent strength to do so, comprising as it does 33% of the world’s population, 25% of the world’s crude oil producers and 27% of world exports in developing nations. The Membership of the G-15 also includes India, Brazil and Mexico: 3 of the 10 largest economies in the world.

Several themes dominated the 14th G-15 Summit and the Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which preceded it, said Prof. Peiris. The primary thrust of the discussions was that the developing world collectively has to pool its resources and strengths to further the interests of the people of these countries.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has proposed that the G 15 worked very closely with the G 8 to promote constructive dialogue on all major aspects of development. He said a clear methodology needs to be worked out for this dialogue to be realistic and fruitful.

Addressing the G 15 Summit in Tehran, President Rajapaksa said that the G 15 with its unique composition representing about 33 % of the world population, with clearly identified objectives has the potential to play a constructive role in promoting people- centered development initiatives in global economic and social policy dialogues.

For this reason the G 15 stresses the need for reforms in the international financial architecture to better enable it to monitor, respond and to prevent financial and economic disasters. To attain this objective there must be an open, inclusive and transparent dialogue.

President Rajapaksa added, that the Bretton Woods Institutions when working with the developing countries should take into account their specific conditions as well as structural constraints they confront. ‘These Institutions should refrain from imposing conditionalities which we see in retrospect, did lead in their own way to fuelling the recent crisis,’ he continued.

President Rajapaksa also said ‘the developing world has not run away from its responsibility to contribute to the progressive liberalization of global trade. It is all the more regrettable that we are yet waiting the conclusion of the Doha Round of negotiations in the WTO and the delivery of its development mandate. The G 15 must remain firm that the final package should address the concerns of the developing countries.’

The Sri Lankan President stressed that there must be increased market access for the goods and services of export interest to us. They should not tie up with politically motivated conditionalities.

Referring to climate change President Rajapaksa said, ‘it is an issue towards which we in the developing world owe limited, if not little historical responsibility. It must be recognized that the present trend should lead to the reduction of the environmental and carbon emission space available for developing countries in such a manner as to impact on our entitlement to development. In this situation, it is the principles of equity and of common but differentiated responsibilities as enshrined in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that provide the direction for our future guidance’.

In taking over the Chair, I commit to continuing to further strengthen the voice of our Group on the international stage. I have every confidence that in this task, Sri Lanka would receive the fullest co-peration and support of all Members of the Group, stated President Mahinda Rajapaksa accepting the Chairmanship of G 15.

The strong unity this Group has always projected, complemented by its rich diversity, will go a long way towards contributing to the achievement of its objectives, he said.

President Rajapaksa added, ‘combating poverty, overcoming hunger, universal access to education and health and ensuring sound standards of living for our people have and will continue to be, the highest riorities for all of us’.

President also said that G 15 has an environment conducive to taking the Group forward and re-vitalizing its role, despite successive crises in the food, energy and financial sectors.

Sri Lanka will host the 15th G15 Summit in 2011.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed the eight member ‘Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation’ Commission to report on the lessons to be learnt from the events in the period, Feb 2002 to May 2009, their attendant concerns and to recommend measures to ensure that there will be no recurrence of such a situation.