Sri Lanka President meets UK Defence Secretary

Dec 02, London: The United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Defence Dr. Liam Fox yesterday called on the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is on a visit to London.
During the meeting, President Rajapaksa and Dr. Fox discussed the power devolution in Sri Lanka and development assistance from the UK. The President has appraised the British official on the steps taken by his government to share power with all the communities in Sri Lanka.


The President has said that discussions were already underway with Tamil political parties that agreed to work within a united Sri Lanka, and that he would like to see the proposals for change to come from the new political leaders of the Tamils people, instead of imposing solutions from above, that would be counter productive, the government web site said.
The President has observed that there is a need to strengthen the local government authorities and allow the people in different provinces have a greater say in the management of their own affairs.
The President and Dr. Fox had discussed areas of assistance to Sri Lanka from the UK , especially in areas of infrastructure development, particularly in the North, and the opportunities now available in Sri Lanka for investment by the private sector in the UK, the government said.