Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry says Sri Lanka wants the Summit of Future in 2024 to bring forward an action-oriented outcome, through which member states, both in the North and the South, can better cooperate and respond to global challenges.

Addressing the UN Ministerial Meeting of the Summit of the Future at the United Nations headquarters, Minister Sabry stated that to do this, rebuilding trust and global solidarity will be critical and we need to ensure that commitments are implemented.

He reiterated that the Summit must be closely aligned with the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the outcomes of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit which just concluded, as well as other multilateral platforms such as the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

Speaking further, he noted that ensuring a just global digital transformation that addresses the digital divide, threats from technologies, efforts to counter-terrorism and reform of the international financial architecture are priority areas for Sri Lanka.

“We failed the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), and we are grappling to find a rescue plan for the SDGs. We don’t need a summit which leaves us with another set of goals that are not achievable. We cannot let down our future generation.”

On the margins of the 78th UN General Assembly session in New York, Minister Sabry also met with Victoria Nuland, the US Under-Secretary for Political Affairs.

During the discussion, Nuland asserted the United States’ support for a ‘strong and prosperous Sri Lanka’.

The two sides have discussed US economic assistance, human rights and the shared vision for a free and open Indi-Pacific, the US Under Secretary said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.