Today online reports that amongst other things Singapore’s Law Minister K Shanmugam said it wants to help Sri Lanka with legal training
as a way of solving post civil war disputes
Here’s the report in full
S’pore committed to aiding Sri Lanka’s reconstruction
Singapore has reiterated to Sri Lanka its offer of technical assistance which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made in February this year.
Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who was on an official visit to Sri Lanka, called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Friday. He said Singapore was happy to see that peace had returned to the country, and that during his visit to Trincomale and Jaffna, he saw the significant progress in physical reconstruction.
He reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to strengthen bilateral ties and assist Sri Lanka as it embarked on reconstruction and national reconciliation. Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Law, said that while reconciliation cannot be imposed from the outside, well-wishers such as Singapore look forward to an inclusive process that would include addressing the emotive sentiments of people affected by the decades-long conflict.
He said Singapore was prepared to enhance the existing technical cooperation programme for Sri Lanka under the Singapore Cooperation Programme. The enhancement would focus on the areas of human resource development and economic development.
President Rajapaksa expressed his appreciation for Singapore’s offer and shared about the ongoing efforts in post-conflict development.
Mr Shanmugam – who returned to Singapore yesterday – also met the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka Dr Shirani Bandaranayake, who expressed her interest in cooperating with Singapore in areas of legal training. Mr Shanmugam assured her that Singapore would assist Sri Lanka as best it could.
