US assures continued support to economic growth, prosperity in Sri Lanka

A United States congressional delegation visiting Sri Lanka to strengthen US-Sri Lanka ties has assured to sustain the US commitment to the economic growth and prosperity in the island nation when they met with the country’s leaders yesterday (30 May).

The delegation from the US Congress House of Representatives Armed Services Committee met with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday at Temple Trees and engaged in a lengthy discussion on US-Sri Lanka partnership.

The Congressional Delegation was led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), and included Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). Ambassador of the United States to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap also accompanied the delegation.

The delegation held discussions with the Sri Lankan Premier pertaining to American assistance that could be extended to Sri Lanka’s development, and assured continued assistance for the Government’s development plans.

The US Congressional delegation also called on the Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena at the President’s Official Residence yesterday (30 May). During this meeting, the President said that Sri Lanka is a country which will work with cooperative and friendly manner with the international community. He recalled the assistance given by the US in training Sri Lankan forces.

Military training programs are being conducted between the US and Sri Lanka routinely, the President said, pointing out the necessity of using more technological knowledge to further promote these programs, and emphasised that there is no defence without technology in the modern world.

President Sirisena said that the cooperation of the United States Security forces is important to control the means through which drugs are smuggled into the country, and that for this reason cooperation between the two countries is also of utmost importance.

The Congress committee members who agreed to provide assistance to prevent drug trafficking in Sri Lanka mentioned that it is their country’s policy to give necessary assistance, in order to build Sri Lanka as a strong and prosperous country.

The delegates stated that the internal security of Sri Lanka is important for regional security as well as world peace, and mentioned that the expectation of their Sri Lankan tour is to find out the actions required to strengthen the security and cooperation between both countries and the armed forces.

Meeting with Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan, the US delegation learned about the current situation in the North and East and about the progress on reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

The delegation also met with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and senior defence and foreign policy leaders from the Government of Sri Lanka.