The U.S.’ chosen confidence

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Saturday, June 29, 2019

The US as usual, in the new scenario, is working to fulfil its foreign policy objectives in the Indo-Pacific Region, by sending a high-level delegation to Lanka too. The ‘continuation’ of the discussion on the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), with the government takes place when the Secretary of State or the appointed leader visits Colombo. Sri Lanka has expressed some scepticism of several terms of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) the US wants Sri Lanka to accept.

Washington strategy, holding the American market for Sri Lanka’s exports under the March-2018 renewed GSP which is expected to lapse in December 2020, to bring pressure to agree to the conditions laid out in the Colombo US Embassy classified Diplomatic Note to Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).


It was reported “Following the discussions between the representatives of the United States Government and the Foreign Ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka, the Embassy of the United States of America in Sri Lanka in a ‘Confidential’ note addressing the Foreign Ministry dated August 28, 2018 recalls the agreement between the two governments and reiterates the mutually-agreed upon clauses that are incorporated in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).”

Sinhala patriots construe this as inimical to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lanka.

US market

They claim that they are in a position to disclose what Washington endeavours to achieve at the expense of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

They claim that Washington designed to hold the GSP Talks as a prerequisite, to induce Sri Lanka to agree to the conditions proposed by Washington to finalize the SOFA agreement which is well connected to the June-2017 renewed Acquisition and Cross-Services Agreement (ACSA) which facilitates the United States to station American military, its advisors and operators on Sri Lankan soil.

They claim the renewed ACSA which runs into 83 pages is still kept a secret by both Sri Lanka and the United States rushed through a GSL Cabinet meeting, not tabled in Sri Lanka’s legislature.

Apparently similar tactic was used by Washington in the mid-1980s when trade talks were in progress regarding the ‘Textile Quota’ to the US market when representatives from the US Trade Representative Office used the issues of human rights and the importation of movies pressurizing Sri Lanka to award a fair share of imports to two major Sri Lankan cinema companies as a prerequisite to increase the textile quotas! All are well aware that 27 per cent of exports from Sri Lanka arrives in the American market, and that Lanka heavily depends on this market. Sri Lankan exports indicate that nearly 57% is exported to the EU and USA. It shows 27% of exports are shared by the USA and the majority 30% is shared by the EU.

Over 3,000 different products from Sri Lanka are eligible to enter the United States duty-free under the GSP programme. The US was the leading buyer of Lankan exports over the years and it continued its lead even last year. Sri Lankan exports to the United States is now almost 3 billion US dollars threshold for the first time.

In the heat of the GSP trade talks between Sri Lanka and the United States the following week – on June Secretary of State or the substitute will arrive in Colombo, as the spokesperson of the state department put it “Secretary will express America’s solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka as they stand united against the despicable Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. He will also discuss promising opportunities for US-Sri Lanka cooperation based on shared commitments to a free and open Indo-Pacific region”, and added, during the visit to Indo-Pacific region on June 24 through June 30, to “broaden and deepen America’s partnership with key countries to advance their shared goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Indo-Pacific region

The catchphrase is “He will also discuss promising opportunities for US-Sri Lanka cooperation based on shared commitments to a free and open Indo-Pacific region” in which the proposed clauses of the Diplomatic Note that Washington is serious about will form the discussions Secretary will have with top GSL political authority.

The ACSA and SOFA are vital components of Washington express “Free and Open trade” policy. The US has signed these two agreements with nations along the Indo-Pacific region. The United States, during the past eighteen months, has enhanced its military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Washington has recognized Sri Lanka’s location in the region as a geo-strategically vital for its operation in the Indo-Pacific to compete with China’s economic-military expansion.

Any nation wanting to do business in another country is interested in the security for their investments. Physical, as well as trade setups, are worth billions. It is natural to think of the security of foreign investments. With the growth of trinity of IMF, WB and WTO there was ease as structural international arrangement behaved as a security system as well. Change of politics in Europe and the US have created now a foul condition with arbitrary socio-economic changes. The threat of fascism is considered by intellectuals.

The ISIS terrorist attack on three Catholic churches in Colombo and a Protestant church in the eastern city of Batticaloa and three Five Star hotels in Colombo that took the lives of 250 persons must have been a great concern for Washington on eve of Secretary’s visit to the Asian region. Some believe that ISIS is created by the American CIA to destroy Muslim revival! In reality, it could be a philosophical challenge to End of the History Theory of American postmodernist vision; damma based on violent human sacrifice. Hence the fear of Americans and the west is understandable.

It is impossible to hope for a democratic market economy in the background of violent sacrifices for a blessed Swarga raj. Now Sri Lanka is at the centre of Washington’s Indo-Pacific Region Military Policy as a terrorist attacked nation. Pompeo made reference to Lanka in his interview with a premier TV network CBS highlighting ISIS penetration in the region and how Washington looks at the developed scenario following ISIS attacks in Sri Lanka on April 21.

US foreign policy

Pompeo wants everyone to understand that the bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday ‘provide a justification’ for the war on terror which has become a permanent and dominant feature of US foreign policy! The US argues ‘certainly the case that they show no sign of ideologically having changed from their desire to conduct attacks on the West. And that means we’re going to have to be vigilant for an awfully long time.’

The US needs a reason to be seen as indispensable in its actions across the globe. The “desire to conduct attacks on the West” ensures that indispensable status. Some might find it peculiar to hear Sri Lanka referred to as “the West”? For Pompeo, nothing could be more natural. Sri Lanka is a province of the empire, just like neighbouring India, a nation with four times the population of the United States that has now learned it no longer has the freedom to purchase oil from the most convenient and trusted supplier.

Washington’s desire for the sustainability of its military build-up in the Indo-Pacific Region and Sri Lanka’s strategic location right at the centre of the Region, the vitality of the 83-page US-SL signed ACSA which will put American boots on Sri Lankan soil along with US Department of Defence officials and the importance of Colombo agreeing to the proposed clauses forwarded to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a Diplomatic Note dated August 28, 2018 that could form the SOFA will be talking points during Secretary Mike Pompeo’s discourse with Sri Lankan political authority. Of course, Pompeo is aware that an ISIS penetration in Sri Lanka and the surrounding area could be a hindrance to America’s military design in the Indo-Pacific region.

The hint for the above talking points and Washington’s projections came from the state department spokesperson while announcing Secretary Pompeo’s visit to the Asian region when she said: “He will also discuss promising opportunities for US-Sri Lanka cooperation based on shared commitments to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.”