President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will be represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali, Rwanda, from June 21 to 25, 2022.
The Commonwealth’s fifty-four (54) member states will attend the CHOGM in Rwanda.
On the 24th of June, Rwandan President Paul Kagame will declare the CHOGM open in the presence of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, who will represent the Commonwealth’s Head of State, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The Commonwealth Heads will convene at a high level on the 24th and 25th of June 2022, preceded by the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Meeting (CFAMM) on the 23rd.
The subject of the 2022 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is “Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, and Transforming,” showcasing the Commonwealth family’s efforts to achieve shared goals such as environmental protection and increased trade. Foreign Minister Peiris will take part in high-level debates on “Democracy, Peace, and Governance,” “Sustainable and Inclusive Development,” and “Post-COVID-19 Recovery,” among other topics.
On the fringes of the CHOGM, the Foreign Minister is anticipated to undertake bilateral discussions with numerous Commonwealth Member States from Europe, Asia, and Africa to discuss matters of mutual concern.
Sri Lanka is one of the Commonwealth’s eight founding members, and in November 2013, it hosted the 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo. The CHOGM was supposed to be held in Rwanda in June 2020, but it was postponed twice owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
