Wickremesinghe addresses Boston Tamils

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 May 2006, 03:12 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Leader of Opposition and former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is completing a two-week fellowship at MIT's Center for International Studies (CIS) this week, addressed expatriate Tamils at the Boston Tamil Center on Friday at 6.30 pm, sources attending the event said.

Mr Wickremesinghe spoke on the tenuous nature of the current peace process and said that only concerted action by co-chairs or India will be able to able to arrest the collapse of the peace process.

He said that the issue of paramilitiaries is one of the major causes for the deterioration of the ceasefire, and added that paramilitaries should be disarmed.

He talked about the peace process and the dialogue with the LTTE during his premiership, and also about future economic prospects for Sri Lanka. He said unless conflict is brought under control, Sri Lanka will not be able to utilize the economic opportunities that are currently available. These opportunities do not last forever, he said.

Mr Wickremesinghe joined MIT's Center for International Studies (CIS) on a short-term fellowship for discussions on the politics of the Indian Ocean region and conflict resolution in general.

"It is an exceptional opportunity for the MIT community to have Ranil here. He provides us with experience and insights. We hope and trust he will benefit from his visit as much as we are," said John Tirman, CIS director.

Mr Wickremesinghe also gave a seminar on "Beyond a militarized approach to terrorism: Experience from Sri Lanka," an event opened to public on Monday, May 8, 2006.

External Links:

MIT:

CIS welcomes former Sri Lankan PM