German Ambassador on sudden visit to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 15 June 2010, 17:05 GMT]
German Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Jens Ploetner, whose visit to Jaffna Monday was suddenly cancelled due to undisclosed reasons, however made a sudden visit to Jaffna Tuesday, sources in Jaffna said. The ambassador took part in an event in Chaavakachcheari Hindu College Tuesday to which he was invited as the chief guest by the alumni of the college. Meanwhile, German Embassy in Colombo had announced the ‘German Week in Jaffna – 2010’ which was to take place from 14th June to 18th June at the Centre for Performing Arts in Jaffna. This event was cancelled at the last moment, the sources added.



An officer of Sri Lanka Army (SLA) took part in the Chaavakachcheari event uninvited, raising eyebrows among the participants, sources in Chaavakachcheari said. His presence, however, did not cause any untoward incidents, the sources added.

Jens Ploetner met Jaffna Government Agent (GA) K. Ganesh at Jaffna Secretariat Tuesday after the Chaavakachcheari event from whom he gathered information about the German aided development projects in progress in Jaffna peninsula, the GA said.

The visiting ambassador showed a keen interest in learning about future development projects that need assistance, the GA added.

Economy and Development Cooperation of Germany, a main focus of the bilateral relations between Germany and Sri Lanka, is engaged in development projects in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the German ambassador to Sri Lanka who was to participate in a cultural program Monday organized by German Cultural Society in Jaffna had cancelled the visit without any official information for the last minute cancellation of the visit, sources in Jaffna said.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Intelligence Wing men and the police in Jaffna were keen in gathering details about the Tamil artistes from Germany participating in the cultural events Monday, local media sources who had been invited to the event said.