US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1510

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001510 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  08-29-13 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, CE, ECONOMICS 
SUBJECT:  Like-Minded Nations:  Moragoda Briefed 
 
Ref:  State 249224 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Charge' 
d'Affaires.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) The Charge' shared the substance of para three 
reftel with Minister Milinda Moragoda on August 29. 
Moragoda expressed his appreciation and said he was 
aware of Ambassador Subasinghe's conversations on the 
Like-Minded Countries initiative with the Department. 
Moragoda said that, although he remains involved and 
interested in the subject, Subasinghe is the "desk 
officer" on the initiative and is handling most of the 
"setup work."  Moragoda agreed that the initiative is 
off to a good start ("We've hit no walls yet") but 
cautioned that:  "It's early days yet." 
 
2.  (C) Moragoda said Subasinghe has been in touch with 
Bahrain and Uruguay, both of which are enthusiastic. 
According to Moragoda, the Uruguayan president will be 
in Miami (but not New York) in mid-September. 
Subasinghe is trying to arrange for Moragoda to go to 
Miami to brief the Uruguayans while Moragoda is in the 
U.S. in September. 
 
3.  (C) Moragoda agreed that UN reform would be a good 
topic for the group to take on.  He asked, however, that 
the U.S. endorse the idea with the Singaporeans since, 
Moragoda said, in Sri Lankan discussions with 
Singaporean UN PERMREP Mahbubani in New York and with 
Tommy Koh there had been agreement that "Doha and WMD" 
should be the initial points of focus. 
 
ENTWISTLE