President Maithripala Sirisena, in his address to the UN General Assembly, fell short of presenting specific proposals to "acquit" whom he termed war heroes from war crimes charges.
Before he left Colombo to attend the summit., Sirisena told newspaper editors that he would present a fresh set of proposals to the UN aiming to protect the country's armed forces from prosecution.
However, Sirsena's speech at the UN was full of political rhetoric and frills, with little attention to details and specifications.
He called upon the international community to look at Sri Lanka from a fresh perspective and consider the "tremendous progress" made by his government towards reconciliation, restoration of democratic freedom, human rights and the rule of law.
Sirisena also asked world leaders to extend the fullest support to build a progressive, democratic, free and equal society in the country.
He also said Sri Lanka was taking action to consolidate peace and forge ahead to develop the economy, and such a nation deserves the support and understanding of the international community.
“I urge the international community to allow Sri Lankan people to solve their problems on their own,” he said.
"As an independent country we do not want any foreign power to exert influence on us. We want to appeal to the international community to give us the room to resolve the problems that we are facing so that the right of the Sri Lankan people to find solutions to their problems is respected, " he added.
The President said that the government was also working to eliminate fear and suspicion among different communities.
Quoting from the Buddha’s preaching in the Sallasutta of Samyuktha Nikaye in Thripitaka, he said, "if a man is pierced with a dart, he will suffer physical pain. When he worries about it, he suffers more pain. Hence, there are two kinds of pains suffered by the man. When it comes to Sri Lanka, it is the people who suffered pain due to war and they continue to feel pain when they think about it. Therefore, I take this opportunity to call upon your support and cooperation." (Sic)
