Sri Lanka is ready to face any challenge to preserve its independence and sovereignty, a senior minister said today, days after a US-backed resolution was tabled at the UNHRC over its alleged rights abuses during the last phase of the war against the LTTE.
"Achieving a stable peace has made it possible for the government to secure Sri Lanka's sovereignty, independence and food security thus strengthening its resolve to face any challenge," Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa told a gathering at the southwestern town of Ratnapura.
Basil is the younger brother of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his reference to food security assumes significance amid speculation that the resolution moved in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva may impose economic sanctions against Sri Lanka over its failure to address allegations of human rights violations.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has discounted the possibility of economic sanction as a result of what he had termed vengeful international action at the behest of the pro-LTTE diaspora domicile in the West.
Sri Lanka has already slammed the draft resolution as intrusive and inappropriate action which went beyond the mandate of the UNHR commissioner Navi Pillay.
This will be the third UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka. Both previous resolutions were adopted with India's support.
Sri Lanka has steadfastly dismissed calls for international investigation, citing its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommendations.
The country has faced accusations of an estimated 40,000 civilian killings during the final phase of the war against the LTTE in 2009.
