The Secretary-General met today with H.E. Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka.

The Secretary-General encouraged Sri Lanka to continue making progress on the post-war agenda, including dialogue, inclusive governance, reconciliation and accountability issues.

He raised his concern with the incident of religious violence that took place in June and noted that he counted on the President’s leadership to keep reaching out to minorities. He also encouraged the President to provide protection to asylum-seekers.

The Secretary-General stated his expectation that Sri Lanka would engage patiently and faithfully with the United Nations, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.