US is disappointed with Sri Lanka

By admin on May 2, 2014

The United States (US) says it is disappointed with the Sri Lankan Government over its failure to take adequate and meaningful steps to support accountability and reconciliation over the past four years.

US Assistant Secretary of State at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal, speaking before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, said that in Sri Lanka, while the brutal conflict in in Sri Lanka ended 2009, the country is still undergoing a fragile transition.

“And while we are disappointed that the government has failed over the past four years to take adequate and meaningful steps to support accountability and reconciliation, the United States is committed to working with the people and the government of Sri Lanka to strengthen its democracy and to help the country move towards a more durable peace,” she added.

Biswal further said that given the elections and transitions underway in the South Asian region, now is a time of enormous opportunity to help shape a more promising future for the people across South Asia. She said that under President Obama and Secretary Kerry’s leadership, the US is doubling its efforts in Asia.

“Despite many challenges, including weak regional architecture, high poverty rates and limited regional infrastructure, we can envision a future where Asian economies are connected through trade and transit from Central Asia to South Asia to Southeast Asia and beyond,” Biswal added.

Biswal said the Obama administration has placed a strategic bet on regional economic connectivity through our New Silk Road and Indo-Pacific economic corridor initiatives and they know that peace and stability are much more likely to be sustained when the countries of the region are tied together in trade and when their economies and their people are invested in each other. (Colombo Gazette)