This is an era which is witnessing the end of western dominance, former Prime Minister and Chief Guest of WION Global Summit, Ranil Wickremesinghe said in his keynote address on Thursday.

He began his address by lauding India’s first international news channel WION as he said, it “is a pioneer in creating a global platform to present the geopolitical analysis of recent South Asian trends”.

“This is an era which is witnessing the end of western dominance,” said Wickremesinghe in Dubai.

“An era is being shaped by new forces... the sudden rise of China in economic, military, political spheres challenging the unipolar world by attempting to remodel the existing global order,” the former Sri Lankan PM added.

“The US is politically divided like never before. Even the European Union is divided and weaker”, Wickremesinghe also said.

“Coronavirus has brought China, the factory of the world, to a grinding halt. Its impact is also being felt in Sri Lanka,” Wickremesinghe, adding, “Maybe it’s only China that can face trade war and coronavirus simultaneously”.

WION Global Summit is a platform for global leaders to come together at a single platform and have a dialogue on a common global agenda.

In this year’s edition, the list of speakers include former Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe; Dr Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, the first Female President of Latvia and former president of Club de Madrid, Aleqa Hammond; The first female Prime Minister of Greenland and Mariya Didi; the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Maldives.

During the one-day event, the guests will host agenda-driven discussions on topics of global importance including, climate change, global governance, economic slowdown, and global crisis.

Source: WION