Ambassador Azeez said Sri Lanka’s Presidency of the next meeting of the States Parties is historic for several reasons.“Sri Lanka became a State Party to the Convention on 1 March 2018, barely six months ago. We did so after acceding to the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines. This followed a very delicate national process, after having made considerable progress towards making Sri Lanka a landmine-free country.

Taking resolute action to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning an injurious and indiscriminate conventional weapon category, which Sri Lanka had never used during its almost three decades-long conflict, was the next logical step to follow,” he said. He also said Sri Lanka’s Presidency is an opportunity to clearly manifest both the commitment as well as the progress made in advancing reconciliation and peace building since the current Government came to office in 2015.

"Sri Lanka and its Presidency, supported by the Coordination Committee, would do all that is possible to strive towards realising this vision in the coming year-which also marks a crucial year bridging the transition onto the second decade of the CCM and building momentum on to the Second Review Process of the CCM that will take place under the able leadership of Switzerland in the year 2020,” he said.