Mahinda Rajapaksa

“My country has been influenced by the core Buddhist values of non-violence, loving kindness, compassion, equanimity and mindfulness. With this sense of direction, our Government has committed itself "Towards a new Sri Lanka", guided by a vision of peace, where every Sri Lankan citizen may live with dignity and self-respect, in freedom and without fear, free of want, and where every child may enjoy childhood and grow up with hope and expectation.”

“As for what I achieved in the first term, I have brought peace to this country. Eliminated terrorism and brought peace. Now my aim is to develop the country. After that, the priorities are the people whom we have to win over – the hearts and minds of the people. Now Sri Lanka is one country; it's not divided. So what we want is to see that the whole nation gets all the benefits, not only one area, not only one community. To develop the economy so that all the people benefit.”

“Discipline is not revenge. The nation can only be built through commitment, discipline and elimination of corruption.”

“I have succeeded in uniting the territory. Now, I am entrusted with the task of uniting the hearts of all sections of our people. I willingly take over the noble task of creating peace among our communities.”

“We need an alternative. In the end, they [the US and the West] are not punishing Iran. They are punishing us, small countries.”

“If there is any violations, we will take actions against anybody, anybody. I am ready to do that.”

“If anyone who wants to complain about human rights violations in Sri Lanka, whether it's torture, whether it is rape, we have a system.”

“Centuries of growth in advanced economies have left little carbon space for the developing world, challenging their growth. The thin lines of balancing economic development and protection of the environment will remain a great challenge in future development policy-setting. It is therefore critical that developed countries honour their commitments and compensate damage to the environment, on the basis of common but differentiated responsibilities.”

“Reflecting on the work of the UN, matters of a political nature have overridden the most basic issues, which affect the underprivileged and marginalized, who dominate world society.”

“I say: be fair. Be objective. Don't just come to conclusions based on one-sided "evidence."”

“All international laws are made by big, powerful countries but applied only on weaker ones like ours.”