The Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake, addressing the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on 20 August 2026, reiterated Sri Lanka’s long-standing and principled position that outer space is a common heritage of humankind and must be preserved exclusively for peaceful purposes. Ambassador Dassanayake further stated that Sri Lanka firmly rejects any strategic doctrine that seeks to turn outer space as a warfighting domain or a battlefield for geopolitical rivalry, stressing that all space activities must strictly adhere to the UN Charter and the Outer Space Treaty.
Highlighting key outcomes of the recent multilateral deliberations on outer space disarmament, Sri Lanka emphasized that while voluntary Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures (TCBMs) can serve as useful interim steps to build trust, they can never substitute a comprehensive, legally binding, and multilaterally verifiable treaty that prohibits the placement of weapons in outer space.
Ambassador Dassanayake also congratulated the newly appointed Permanent Representative of Pakistan on assuming the Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament and conveyed Sri Lanka’s best wishes for a successful tenure.
Sri Lanka further drew the attention of the Conference on the existential threat posed by space debris in Near-Earth orbit, stressing that the generation of such debris disproportionately affects non-spacefaring developing nations that rely heavily on global space infrastructure. Calling for concrete and effective debris mitigation measures, Sri Lanka cautioned that efforts to manage space threats must not become a pretext for discriminatory restrictions that hinder developing countries from accessing space technologies essential for climate resilience, disaster management, and sustainable development.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva
23 August 2026