Colombo, Sri Lanka – A high-level UPF delegation led by International Chairman Dr. Charles S. Yang visited Colombo on January 8, 2025, to meet with Sri Lanka’s newly elected government leaders. The delegation met Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and extended congratulations on behalf of UPF’s co-founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon.
Dr. Yang introduced UPF’s peace activities to the prime minister, and invited her to attend and address World Summit 2025, to be held in Seoul, Korea on April 10-14 on the theme “Contemporary Challenges to World Order: Establishing a New Era of Peace and Prosperity.” Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal, president of UPF-Asia Pacific, briefed the prime minister on UPF’s work with previous Sri Lankan governments over many years, and expressed the hope that this partnership would continue in the future.
Prime Minister Amarasuriya thanked the delegation and said she looked forward to further discussions and collaboration. Two Sri Lankan members of parliament, Hon. Ranjith Maddumabandara and Hon. Sujith Sanjaya Perena, participated in the meeting, as did the secretary general of UPF-Sri Lanka, Dr. Chula Sinaratne.
The delegation also met with the newly elected speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament, Hon. Jagath Wickramaratne, in the speaker’s chamber. Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal, chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Asia Pacific Union Parliamentary Speakers’ Conference (APUPSC) invited Speaker Wickramaratne to be one of the founding members of the Parliamentary Speakers Conference to be held during World Summit 2025 in Seoul, Korea. Dr. Yang explained that APUPSC will bring dozens of speakers and senate presidents together for the cause of peace in the Asia Pacific, on the Korean Peninsula and in the world. The speaker thanked UPF for the invitation and said he would do his best to participate.
The UPF delegation also met the opposition party leader, Hon. Sajith Premadasa, at his office. They discussed various aspects of regional peace and cooperation, and invited the opposition party to send a delegation to the UPF World Summit 2025.
During their two-day visit, the delegation also met with former President Maithripala Sirisena, who chairs UPF’s International Summit Council for Peace in the Asia Pacific, and discussed prospects for the Asia Pacific Union Forum that will be inaugurated during World Summit 2025.
Among its previous projects with Sri Lanka, the UPF-affiliated International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP) organized a conference in partnership with the Sri Lankan Parliament on December 5, 2023, on the theme, “Accountability in Action: Fostering Transparency and Good Governance among Parliamentarians.”
