Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Netherlands Aruni Ranaraja presented her credentials to Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Dr. Fernando Arias, at the OPCW Headquarters at the Hague, on Monday, the Embassy stated in a press release.
After welcoming Ambassador Ranaraja, the Director-General briefed her on the progress achieved by the OPCW on chemical weapons disarmament and non-proliferation activities and elaborated on how OPCW envisaged to address new and emerging chemical weapon threats, as well as to support capacity-building in OPCW Member States through its flagship project: the ChemTech Centre.
The Ambassador, while acknowledging the assistance extended by the OPCW to build Sri Lanka’s national capacity in chemical handling, including the training assistance provided by the OPCW over the years, requested further partnership in the areas of capacity-building of local chemical scientists, exchange of scientific and technical information, assistance to upgrade Sri Lanka’s laboratory services, conducting awareness programmes on chemical safety, and responding to chemical emergencies.
Ambassador Ranaraja also recalled that several Sri Lankans had held positions at the OPCW, and expressed keen interest in continuing to increase Sri Lanka’s contribution to the organisation through its pool of human resources, the statement said.
Ambassador Ranaraja encouraged the OPCW to consider Sri Lanka as a regular host nation to hold international and regional events, similar to the International Seminar on ‘Chemical Weapons Convention and Chemical Safety and Security Management’ for Member States of the OPCW in the Asian Region, which was held in December, 2019.
Both the Director-General and the Ambassador underscored the necessity of having strong international cooperation and commitment for the prevention of the usage of chemical weapons by non-state actors and not to succumb to politically-motivated agendas.
Deputy Director-General Ambassador Odette Melono, Director of the External Relations Division and Deputy Chief of Cabinet to the Director-General, was also present. Sri Lanka is one of the early signatories of the Chemical Weapons Convention, having signed it on January 14, 1992, and ratified on August 19, 1994.
