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MEA statement on SL’s G-77 Vienna Chapter chairmanship ignores Envoy Azeez
View(s):A Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Press release on Sri Lanka’s assumption of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G-77) Vienna Chapter, has left out the name of Ambassador to Austria A.L.A. Azeez, a senior career diplomat.
In contrast, the press release issued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) says in its opening paragraph that, “Ambassador Aliyar Lebbe Abdul Azeez, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka, today officially took over the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G-77) Vienna Chapter.”
Mr Azeez, a professional diplomat for the past 22 years, is also Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna. The statement of the MEA states that Sri Lanka assumed the chairmanship of the Vienna Chapter of the Group of 77 from Sudan on January 22, 2014, at a formal meeting attended by the Group’s Ambassadors as well as the executive heads of Vienna-based international organisations.
While it even inserted the name of External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris into the text and gave customary mention to the Mahinda Chinthana, it did not even once refer to Mr Azeez, who diplomats say played a leading role in securing the position for Sri Lanka.
The UNIDO statement quoted Mr Azeez as saying that, “his election would be welcomed by the Sri Lanka Government which stresses stewardship on issues of global importance for developing countries through a well-established policy of constructive cooperation and dialogue in order to maximize the outcome for the countries of the South.”
The MEA has even modified this to read, “Election of Sri Lanka to this post in the Group of 77, which is the largest block of developing countries in the UN with more than 130 members, reflects the strong confidence placed by the members of the Group in Sri Lanka’s role in maintaining a constructive dialogue with international partners to further the cause of the South.”