Najib poses with Commonwealth secretary general Kamalesh Sharm (middle) and Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
COLOMBO: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak defended Malaysia's participation at the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) here, saying the nation would benefit from it.
"CHOGM is in Sri Lanka and not CHOGM on Sri Lanka," he told Malaysian journalists.
He said that participation in CHOGM was for the nation's benefit and his attendance was made out of respect of the invitaton extended to Malaysia.
He added that the 53 members nationf under the Commonwealth grouping, although coming from diverse background, shared similar core values of promoting democracy, rule of law, equitable growth and inclusive development within member states.
Najib said Malaysia would host CHOGM in 2019, an event that would be among several high level international meetings that the nation would host begining with the Asean Summit in 2015 and culminating with the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in 2020.
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