Sri Lanka looks forward to continue our engagement with the United States, especially through the ‘Partnership Dialogue’, to take our relationship to even greater heights, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said.

The observation was made following discussions with US Asst. Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Biswal and US Asst. Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Tom Malinowski.

“We have seen a series of visits from the United States since January last year. This included the Cabinet-level visits of Secretary of State John Kerry, and Ambassador Samantha Power. These high-level visits, combined with the hard work of Assistant Secretary Biswal and Assistant Secretary Malinowski, and others including our respective Ambassadors in the United States and in Sri Lanka, we have succeeded in consolidating relations between our two countries. 

It was the result of all this hard work that saw our two countries set up a ‘Partnership Dialogue’ between the United States and Sri Lanka, which met for the first time in Washington DC in February this year. 

At our meeting today, we discussed a range of issues of bilateral importance including economic cooperation; governance, development cooperation, people-to-people ties; and security cooperation. We also discussed matters pertaining to reconciliation in Sri Lanka; as well as international and regional issues and events that impact on our countries. Apart from discussing ways of making our partnership stronger, including enhancing bilateral trade and investment, we also discussed about enhancing maritime cooperation and Sri Lanka’s participation in the ‘Our Oceans’ Conference aimed at preservation of Oceans, to be held in September, in Washington DC.

 
We also discussed the importance of providing an economic peace dividend for the people of Sri Lanka as we progress in the process of reconciliation; and I emphasized the interconnected nature of reconciliation and development, and the resources required for the success of both,” he added.