The Hon. Vijitha Herath - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism
Vijitha Herath clarified that the President’s visit to Vietnam involved two separate events: a State diplomatic invitation from the Vietnamese President and the UN Vesak event organized by a UN-affiliated Vesak Organizing Committee with Sri Lankan Buddhist clergy participation. He stated that accommodation and internal transport were provided by the Vietnamese Government, while the return aircraft was arranged and paid for by the Vietnam Buddhist organization affiliated with the Vesak Committee. He emphasized that no Sri Lankan public funds were spent on the private jet.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, to be clear: there were two events—the State diplomatic invitation by the President of Vietnam, and the UN Vesak organized by the UN-affiliated Vesak Organizing Committee, which includes Sri Lankan Maha Sangha such as the Anunayaka of Malwathu Chapter, Ven. Niyangoda Vijithasiri Thero, among many others.
¶ 02 The Vietnamese Government provided accommodation and internal transport. The UN-affiliated Vesak Organizing Committee operating in Vietnam, i.e., the Vietnam Buddhist organization affiliated to it, arranged and bore the full cost of the return aircraft. Not a single rupee of Sri Lankan public funds was spent on the private jet.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 8 May 2025 ·No. 1748426168056758 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Vijitha Herath - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 May 2025. No. 1748426168056758. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/21938