Lanka's new leader vows reconciliation

New President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday vowed to end Sri Lanka's pariah status by working with the UN and promised national reconciliation, six years after the island's ethnic war ended.

In an address to the nation to mark Sri Lanka's 67th anniversary of independence, Sirisena and his ministers also pledged never again to allow the "land to be traumatised by the shedding of blood of innocents".

In a major sign of rapprochement, the country's main minority political party, the Tamil National Alliance, attended the national day celebrations for the first time in decades.

In last month's election Sirisena defeated long-time strongman Mahinda Rajapakse, who fell out with the West over allegations of wartime rights abuses by the security forces.

"We have to address our foreign policy problems. We will follow the UN charter and abide by the UN values," Sirisena said in a nationally televised address.

The US and the Commonwealth have already welcomed the new government's approach to work with the international community, a departure from the previous confrontationist stance.

In contrast to Rajapakse, Sirisena's government used the national day to pay respects to all victims of the decades long separatist war which the UN says had claimed at least 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.

Sirisena has lifted both the economic embargo and travel restrictions on the north since coming to power. He has also offered to return Tamil-owned land taken over by the military to set up businesses run by the security forces.

Meanwhile, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday announced that  Sirisena would visit New Delhi later this month on what is expected to be his first foreign trip since winning power,

"I look forward to welcoming President Sirisena later this month," Modi said on his Twitter account. Sirisena has previously said India would be his first port of call as president.