Kerry says US wants to renew ties with Lanka
COLOMBO, May 2, (Agencies): US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday the United States wanted to renew ties with Sri Lanka and announced the start of an annual bilateral dialogue after years of tensions with the island nation’s former government.
Kerry arrived in the South Asian country earlier on Saturday, the first time in a decade that a US secretary of state has visited Sri Lanka.
Washington had years of tensions over human rights with former president Mahinda Rajapakse, who was unseated by Mathripala Sirisena in a surprise election win in January.
Sri Lanka had also tilted heavily towards China as Rajapaksa fell out with the West over human rights and allegations of war crimes at the end of the government’s drawn-out conflict with Tamil separatists, which ended in 2009.
Kerry said Washington wanted to work with Sirisena and lauded the new government’s efforts to tackle corruption, build democratic institutions and address the wrongs of the past through a process of national reconciliation.
“I am here today because I want to say to the people of Sri Lanka in this journey to restore democracy the American people will stand with you,” Kerry said after meeting Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
“We intend to broaden and to deepen our partnership with you,” Kerry said while announcing the annual dialogue.
Samaraweera called Kerry’s visit a “momentous occasion” and said it “signified the return of our little island nation to the centre stage of international affairs”.
Kerry has been credited in Sri Lanka for his role in pressing for peaceful and inclusive elections, and for calling Rajapaksa on the eve of voting to urge him to respect the outcome.
Kerry hailed Sri Lanka’s new reformist government Saturday for making “enormous progress” since the departure of strongman Mahinda Rajapakse and for pursuing reconciliation with Tamils after the island’s devastating ethnic conflict.
As he met top officials including President Maithripala Sirisena, Kerry said he saw “extraordinary opportunities” opening up for bilateral ties and said Washington stood ready to help Colombo in any way it could.
“Today we have talked about the enormous progress Sri Lanka has made in just a few months,” said Kerry as he appeared alongside Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
Democracy
“I’m here today because I want to say to the people of Sri Lanka that in (this) journey to restore your democracy the American people will stand with you,” added Kerry.
“There is progress on democratic institutions, progress on creating more accountable government, passage of (the) 19th amendment in which the president kept his promise to reduce powers of the presidency.”
Since coming to power in January elections, Sirisena has begun delivering on his pledges to reduce some of the powers of the president, effectively reversing changes brought in by Rajapakse to tighten his grip.
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favour of restoring a two-term limit for the president and reviving inde- pendent bodies to manage key institutions such as the police and the judiciary.
Kerry also praised the new government for reaching out to the Tamil minority after the end of a 37-year ethnic conflict that claimed more than 100,000 lives.
“You are working on creating an enduring peace and you are working on providing prosperity for all of your people,” he said.
Sirisena, who mopped up most of the votes among the Tamil minority in the polls, has vowed to pursue reconciliation efforts more vigorously than Rajapakse, who had a reputation as a hardline Sinhalese nationalist.
Samaraweera, who was on hand to welcome Kerry at Colombo airport, had equally warm words for his guest, the first US secretary of state to visit Colombo in a decade.
“Today is the beginning of a very very special friendship,” said the foreign minister.
“Today, Sri Lanka is well on its way to becoming a fully-fledged Parliamentary democracy, laying the foundations for a new Sri Lanka, built on the pillars of democracy and ethnic harmony.”