Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham and Secretary of State (Asia- Pacific) David Kilgour today welcomed the successful conclusion of the first round of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and representatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Sattahip, Thailand.

“ I have been very impressed with the strides taken over the past eight months to advance the cause of peace in Sri Lanka.” Said Minister Graham. “It is encouraging that, after almost 20 years of conflict, both parties are making progress toward resolving their differences through negotiation rather than bloodshed.”

Mr. Graham indicated that Canada is prepared to support further progress by providing technical assistance on the difficult jurisdictional and financial issues under discussion, noting that Canada has 135 years of experience dealing with such issues within a multi-ethnic, bilingual, federal state. The government recently provided funding to the Forum of Federation, a Canadian-based non-governmental organization, for a team of experts to visit Sri Lanka in the first week of September to explore options for providing such assistance.

On September 17 in New York, Minister Graham met with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe, and discussed the many issues still to be resolved during the peace process. Minister Graham and Secretary of State Kilgour will also be meeting with G.L. Peiris, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Constitutional Affairs, on September 23 in Ottawa. Minister Peiris is the Government of Sri Lanka’s Chief Negotiator at the peace talks.

“During my visit to the war-affected areas of eastern Sri Lanka in March of this year, I witnessed first hand the suffering caused by the conflict and the hope engendered by the peace process.” said Secretary of State Kilgour. “Canada has voiced strong support for progress toward peace and is contributing actively through peace building and development work undertaken by Canadians with our Sri Lankan partners.”

Through the Canadian International Development Agency, Canada also has in place a carefully designed developmental assistance programme for Sri Lanka. It aims to address the underlying causes of the conflict and supports key Sri Lankan institutions that undertake economic reforms, promote human rights and advance democratic values. Canada is currently involved in 14 such projects in Sri Lanka valued at $ 68.8 million.