David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary under the former Labor Government who is unpopular in Sri Lanka for his anti Mahinda Rajapaksa government stance has lost his position along with the loss of the Labor Party.
One time Conservative Party leader William Hague, Member of Parliament for Richmond (Yorks) has been appointed as the new Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
Miliband drew severe criticism from Sri Lanka due to his stance against the government's military offensive against the LTTE terrorists, pressuring the government to call a ceasefire during the height of the operation.
During a visit to Sri Lanka last year with the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner he enraged the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa over the safety of civilians during the military operation in the North.
Miliband again drew the wrath of Sri Lankan government when he delivered the keynote speech at the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) in London.
His address to GTF was seen as a move to give credibility to the proposed LTTE government in exile. The former British government's participation in the forum has threatened the already strained bilateral relations between the two nations.
However, Hague, the Shadow Foreign Secretary of British parliament, delivered the closing remarks at the GTF. Whether he will make an effort to warm the chilled relations between the two countries is yet to be seen.
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