Sri Lanka signatory to Joint Letter opposing Israeli move

Declaration of UN Chief as “persona non grata”:

The US, India, Japan, South Korea didn’t sign

The government of Sri Lanka says it has signed the Joint Letter supporting the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the wake of the recent declaration by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel designating the UN Secretary General as “persona non grata”, the National People’s Power (NPP) has in fact signed it.

The Foreign Ministry said that by Note Verbale, dated 11 October 2024, Sri Lanka conveyed its desire to be a signatory to the Letter supporting the UN Secretary General, to the Permanent Mission of Chile in New York, which coordinated the Joint Letter.

The FM statement: “Sri Lanka has continued its long-standing and unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and has expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people throughout the years. Sri Lanka has voiced serious concerns regarding the current dire humanitarian situation in Gaza at multiple multilateral fora and supported the call for an immediate ceasefire.

Sri Lanka continues to support the mandated and essential humanitarian efforts of the United Nations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including consistent support to UNRWA. Sri Lanka strongly condemned the recent attack which affected UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, South Lebanon, and injured two Sri Lankan peacekeepers. Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath’s statement to the diplomatic corps in Colombo on 14 October highlighted the need to uphold the obligation to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and the inviolability of UN premises at all times. Sri Lanka chairs the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2443 in 1968.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka fully supports the Letter which defended not just the Secretary General but the UN mandate itself.”

The Chilean letter was endorsed by at least 10 of the U.N. Security Council members, including France, Russia, China, Slovenia and Switzerland although the U.S. along with the U.K., Japan and South Korea did not sign it.

The Indian media reported that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) hadn’t responded to requests for comments on why India did not sign on to the letter. On October 4, the MEA spokesperson had said that for India, Guterres is the U.N. Secretary General, and “what somebody else says about it, what a third person says is not our area of outlook or a matter to comment on”, without commenting on the ban itself.