the 126th session of the Inter Parliamentary Union held in Kampala from March 31 - April 5. Minister de Silva who led the Sri Lankan delegation to the meeting of the 162-member multilateral political organization has apprised the assembly of the efforts made by the government to restore ethnic harmony among Sri Lanka's communities to achieve national reconciliation. He has told the delegates to the meeting that Sri Lanka has achieved significant progress in the field of education and human resources development after the war with the Tamil Tiger terrorists was brought to an end in May 2009. The Minister has stressed that while the government is making every effort to speed up post-war economic development and restore human rights and democracy in the country the LTTE diaspora has launched a campaign to "discredit the government in the eyes of the international community." Sri Lanka says the pro-LTTE campaigns in western countries have set obstacles to government's reconciliation efforts and stalled the power devolution talks with the major Tamil party of the country, Tamil National Alliance, which, according to the government, is influenced by the overseas pro-LTTE diaspora. The Minister has urged the assembly not to be deceived by the pro-LTTE diaspora campaigns and support Sri Lanka's efforts to rebuild the country. "The international community must extend its support to Sri Lanka to rebuild the country and help our people to live in a free environment," he has said. The Minister has said that Sri Lanka has always been an active member of the IPU and was ready to work with all the countries in a friendly manner. The Sri Lankan delegates Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and Deputy Speaker Chandima Weerakkody also participated in the IPU sessions in Kampala.
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