Sanctions on Sri Lanka not in Britain's interest: UK envoy

Economic sanctions on Sri Lanka are not in the interests of the UK which wants to promote trade and investment in the country, Britain's envoy John Rankin said today.
His remarks came weeks after a US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka was adopted at the UN Human Rights Council which called for an international inquiry into alleged war crimes in the last stages of conflict with the LTTE in 2009.
"To the best of my knowledge, no country is thinking of sanctions. First, because the Human Rights Council does not have the power or mandate to impose sanctions. Nor would sanctions necessarily be in the interests of a country like the UK," he said addressing a business forum here.

"Policy is not unidimensional towards Sri Lanka. UN rights issues and Human Rights Resolutions are not the sole purpose of our policy," Rankin said.
The UK was one of the key sponsors of the US-moved resolution.
Rankin said the UK wanted to promote trade and investment in Sri Lanka. Over 100 UK companies are involved in business ventures in the island.
"We are one of your top five investors. We are your second largest trading partner in the world after India. A major part of my job is to promote that trade and investment relationship. So economic sanctions which could affect that economic relationship are not in the interests of the UK. Or indeed the other major trading partners," he said.

Sri Lanka has faced three resolutions in the UN rights body since 2012 over rights abuses during the final months of nearly three-decade-long civil war that ended in 2009.