Sri Lanka’s bilateral relations with several countries, particularly ones in the Middle East, suffered significantly due to the government’s stance on the COVID-related burial issue, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry said.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Mirror, the Minister stated that he had appealed to the Cabinet on five occasions and pleaded with them to look into the cremation of Muslims.
“It was a terrible thing to happen. I felt the worst in my life. It was an ordeal every day I went through when deaths occurred and bodies were to be cremated. I had sleepless nights. I went to the Cabinet on five occasions and pleaded with them to look at it,” he stated.
Minister Ali Sabry further revealed that at the time the Cabinet had also opined that burials should be allowed.
“Unfortunately, they have the so-called experts’ group. They were more than the world WHO experts. One is headed by Channa Pereira and Professor Meththika Perera. They opposed it without any science at all. It didn’t help anyone. It polarized,” he said.
The Foreign Minister pointed out that this decision severely affected Sri Lanka’s ties with several countries, especially Middle Eastern countries.
“It really affected our ties. Burial was allowed in the world. Ours is the only country that did not allow burials of Muslim victims of Covid. It really affected the relationship. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) officially condemned it. The UNHRC condemned it. The World Health Organization clearly made guidelines. So it was a very short-sighted decision which affected our relationship,” he explained.
Minister Ali Sabry stated that recently Sri Lanka had to reach out to so many countries and rebuild the affected ties.
“We are looking at Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, and Qatar. The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister came in 2021. I went there this year. We have invited the UAE foreign minister to come. He had agreed to visit Sri Lanka. I have got an invitation from Iran, Morocco, and countries like that to visit them. We are activating the relationship between the countries. I am sure we can rebuild it and it’d be much better than what it used to be a year ago,” he added. (NewsWire)
