The transformation of Lankan political scene in January 2015, engendered a path breaking revival of Sri Lanka-US bilateral relations, and the partnership between the two nations has now reached unprecedented heights, Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam said, addressing a distinguished gathering at a farewell reception hosted by the U.S. State Department last week.
The State Department hosted the reception for a select group of well wishers of Sri Lanka, including U.S. government representatives, Washington-based foreign diplomats, and representatives from business establishments, civil society and non-governmental organizations, in honour of the Sri Lankan Ambassador who leaves the U.S. capital later this week to take up a new assignment as, Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking at the event he said, when he started his tenure in the US in 2014, he had nothing much to do as far as the state of affairs at that time between Sri Lanka and the United States is concerned.
“However, just about six months into my term here, things took a dramatic turn. The people of our country, exercising their long cherished franchise, elected a new President in January 2015.”
“This renewal and transformation of the US-Sri Lanka relationship has ensured that I leave this country more certain than ever before that our relationship will continue to move in an upward trajectory.
The doors have been opened to harness the fullest potential for expanding cooperation into ever-widening subject areas, in time to come,” he said.
He recalled a few of the many landmark achievements in bilateral relations during the last few years, including the inaugural Partnership Dialogue between the two countries in 2016, which contains a framework for the pursuit of bilateral cooperation in a structured manner, in the years to come.
Ambassador Shannon was instrumental in the creation of this Partnership Dialogue, and he was very much a part of that historic inaugural event.
The bilateral relations during the last two years were marked by several high-level bilateral visits.
Secretary John Kerry’s visit to Sri Lanka in 2015 was the first of its kind in over four decades. The visit of the PACOM Commander, Admiral Harry Harris last December, was invaluable for the renewal of mil-mil cooperation.
Several US naval vessels have called on Sri Lanka’s Ports. The then Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Mangala Samaraweera, visited the U.S just a month after President Sirisena’s government took office in January 2015, and again for the inaugural Partnership Dialogue in 2016.
Many high-level visits and interactions, including parliamentary and congressional visits, have taken place and are continuing.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation’s consecutive selection of Sri Lanka for a threshold program in 2015, and for a Compact in 2016, is no doubt a recognition of the significant strides that the Government and the people of Sri Lanka have made in our transformative path towards a rights-based, people-centric approach to governance and democratic practice.
The list of Sri Lanka’s landmark achievements are too many to mention. Yet, the hard and challenging work that the government and the people of Sri Lanka committed to, and have since delivered, underpin the progress in our bilateral relations.
And this trend, no doubt, continues in spirit and substance through the transition of the US administration.
Like all relationships, constant care and nurturing is required to sustain and guide our relations to greater heights.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador Thomas Shannon observed that Ambassador Kariyawasam was witness to two transitions in administration during his tenure - one in Sri Lanka in 2015, the other in the U.S. in 2017 - and was able to navigate both skillfully, for the benefit of both countries.
He hailed the upward trajectory in bilateral relations and recalled the inaugural U.S. - Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue in 2016, in which he and the Ambassador played a leading role to set up a structured framework for bilateral cooperation.
Under Secretary Shannon pointed to Sri Lanka’s significance as a key player in the U.S. Indian Ocean policy and alluded to the immense potential for expanding the bilateral partnership.