Speech of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, at the XIVth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to be held in Havana, Cuba

Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It gives me great pleasure to be in Havana today and speak on behalf of my country - Sri Lanka.
Our country has been a member of the Non-Aligned Movement from its very inception, 45 years ago. Sri Lanka's association with the Movement, in fact, precedes the Belgrade Conference. We take modest pride in having played a role in the founding of the Non-Aligned movement as one of the 5 convenors of the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in 1955, - a meeting which indeed inspired the birth of our Movement.

Let me express my deep gratitude to His Excellency Fidel Castro and the Government of Cuba, for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to us. His Excellency is not only the longest serving current head of a non aligned country. He is also the world's longest serving current head of government as well. His Excellency is also the first head of government to take the leadership of the developing world for a second time - the first occasion being 27 years ago at the non-aligned summit in Havana in 1979. I take this opportunity to wish President Fidel Castro speedy recovery.

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