LONDON: Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has condemned the decision to allow Sri Lanka to host the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in November as “accommodating evil”.
Baird spoke out after his Commonwealth counterparts in London on Friday agreed to press ahead with the meeting despite strong criticism over Colombo’s human rights record.
“We’re appalled that Sri Lanka seems poised to host CHOGM (the Commonwealth heads of government meeting) and to be chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years,” the Canadian minister told The Guardian newspaper late on Friday.
In Sri Lanka, the foreign ministry dismissed Canada’s criticism. “Canada can say anything, but the others agree with the Secretary General (Kamalesh Sharma) that the summit can go ahead in Sri Lanka,” Foreign ministry spokesman Rodney Perera said.
AFP
