Colombo, Nov 15 – The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2013 kicked off Friday in a festive atmosphere at the opening ceremony held at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre before the Commonwealth leaders and dignitaries.
Britain’s Prince Charles opened the summit, attended by Commonwealth leaders including Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot.
“It gives me very great pleasure to declare this Meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government open,” said the Prince of Wales, who was representing Queen Elizabeth, the Commonwealth head.
The Queen, 87, has given a miss of this year’s CHOGM since Buckingham Palace is reviewing her long-haul travel. The monarch has never missed a CHOGM since the 1973 summit.
After the opening ceremony, Prince Charles and heads of government posed for the official photograph before leaving for the executive sessions at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH).
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Colombo Thursday as he turned 65. The British High Commission in Colombo has reportedly thrown a party to mark his birthday.
The opening of the Commonwealth summit was held amid heavy security with security personnel prevalent in the Sri Lankan capital.
Massive traffic congestion was reported in the city with roads leading to the conference-designated venues mostly closed to traffic.
The hosting of CHOGM in Sri Lanka has drawn attention to its human rights record, including allegations of violations during the military operations in the northern part of the country in 2009.
Several Commonwealth leaders are skipping CHOGM in Sri Lanka including Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
At the opening ceremony, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa said hosting the meeting was a historic occasion for his country.
“We in Sri Lanka are stepping into a new era of peace, stability and renewed economic opportunities that have been long denied to our people, due to the menace of terrorism that existed for nearly three decades.
“In ending terrorism in 2009, we asserted the greatest human right, the right to life,” he said, adding that there had not been a single terrorism- related incident anywhere in Sri Lanka in the past four years.
CHOGM is the first major international conference held in Sri Lanka since the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in 1976.
In his remarks, Rajapaksa said that if the Commonwealth were to remain relevant to its member countries, the association must respond sensitively to the needs of its people and “not to let it turn into a punitive or judgmental body”.
“The strength of the organisation lies in keeping the number of countries together, helping one another in a spirit of partnership, making the Commonwealth truly unique,” he said.
–Bernama
