Telephone Conversation between Foreign Ministers of Japan and the United Kingdom regarding the situation in Sri Lanka

April 28, 2009
Japanese

For about 10 minutes from 3:40 p.m. on April 28, 2009 (JST) Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Hirofumi Nakasone and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the U.K., David Miliband held a telephone conversation. The summary of the conversation is as follows;

At the outset, Secretary Miliband congratulated the success of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan Group Meeting and the Pakistan Donors Conference which were held in Tokyo recently and expressed his appreciation for Japan’s leadership.
In addition, Secretary Miliband stated that he would be visiting Sri Lanka on 29 April, together with French Foreign Minister and other. He stated that he remained gravely concerned with the humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka and would urge the Government of Sri Lanka to bring the conflict to an end and also call upon the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to end hostilities as well as to allow freedom of movement of the civilians and ensure their safety.
Minister Nakasone stated that he was deeply concerned that many internally displaced persons (IDP) remained in a difficult situation and expressed Japan’ intention to provide swift and appropriate humanitarian assistance. He also stated that the recent issuance of the statement by G8 Foreign Ministers on Sri Lanka, was an achievement, condemning strongly the use of civilians as human shields by the LTTE as well as calling all parties to take all necessary action to avoid further civilian casualties.
Both sides agreed to continue to cooperate closely in order to promote the political process in Sri Lanka so that reconciliation can be achieved.

(END)

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