By P.K. Balachandran, IANS
Colombo : Jayantha Dhanapala, senior advisor to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on foreign affairs, resigned Sunday, citing “personal reasons”.
There was much speculation in Colombo about why the veteran diplomat resigned at this juncture. Dhanapala himself was not in the country to answer queries, but his former colleagues at the government peace secretariat told IANS that he was pressed for time.
He had to be away in Canada at a time when critical changes were taking place in Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. The changes include the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement with the Tamil Tigers, which has elicited adverse reactions internationally.
A former UN civil servant and disarmament expert, Dhanapala was secretary general of the government peace secretariat for a period from June 2004.
In December 2005, newly elected President Rajapaksa appointed Dhanapala as his senior honorary advisor on foreign policy.
Dhanapala was a candidate for the post of UN secretary general with Ban Ki-moon of South Korea and Shashi Tharoor of India as competitors. He was eliminated in one of the early straw polls. He is now president of the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs and chairman of the UN University Council.