Sri Lanka president expresses concern with Colombo based diplomats over statements

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday invited the diplomats based in Colombo to the President's Office, where he has raised unofficial concerns regarding their public statements about the security forces' effort to clear the presidential secretariat area.

Ranil Wickremesinghe at the time briefed the diplomats on the military operations conducted to clear the protestors from the area, and they were requested to check with the authorities as well to clarify matters before making statements in future, Daily Mirror reported.

The president was joined by the IGP and Foreign Ministry officials during the meeting.

In order to avoid relying solely on information posted on social media, he asked them to make sure that authorities were on hand to respond to any questions in the event of releasing any statements in future.

Ranil Wickremesinghe also informed them that despite a court order, protesters were still occupying the area and were illegally occupying the Presidential Secretariat.

He informed them that despite being ordered to leave the area by 6 am yesterday (July 23), the protestors had refused and had offered an alternative time that the authorities had rejected.

The president, meanwhile, urged diplomats to confirm statements with the appropriate officials as statements based solely on social media reports could harm Sri Lanka's reputation globally, particularly at a time when Sri Lanka needed support from friendly countries to recover from the economic crisis.