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Sri
Lanka is
too
important
a
country
to be
isolated
from the
West.
Therefore
, a less
confrontational
approach
toward
Sri
Lanka,
citing
strategic
American
interests
in the
region,
is
recommended
by the
US
Senate
Foreign
Relations
Committee
in a
report
to be
released
next
week
,reported
The New
York
Times.
“Sri
Lanka is
located
at the
nexus of
crucial
maritime
trading
routes
in the
Indian
Ocean
connecting
Europe
and the
Middle
East to
China
and the
rest of
Asia,”
the
report
says.
“The
United
States,
India,
and
China
all
share an
interest
in
deterring
terrorist
activity
and
curbing
piracy
that
could
disrupt
maritime
trade.”
The
report
says
that the
Sri
Lankan
government
has
achieved
a
measure
of
progress
in
resettling
the
conflict’s
displaced
and
rebuilding
the
war-shattered
east of
the
country.
“With
the end
of the
war, the
United
States
needs to
re-evaluate
its
relationship
with Sri
Lanka to
reflect
new
political
and
economic
realities,”
the
report
further
notes.
“While
humanitarian
concerns
remain
important,
U.S.
policy
toward
Sri
Lanka
cannot
be
dominated
by a
single
agenda.
It is
not
effective
at
delivering
real
reform,
and it
shortchanges
U.S.
geostrategic
interests
in the
region,”
said the
New York
Times
quoting
the
report.
The
bipartisan
report,
which
was
endorsed
by
Senator
John
Kerry,
the
Democratic
chairman
of the
committee,
as well
as
Senator
Richard
Lugar,
the
ranking
Republican,
is being
released
as the
Obama
administration
is
preparing
to
announce
its new
policy
on Sri
Lanka.
The
tough
strategy
of
Mahinda
Rajapaksa,
Sri
Lanka’s
president,
and his
two
brothers,
Gotabaya
and
Basil,
helped
defeat
the
insurgency
in May
after
more
than two
decades
of war.
The
rebel
group
used
brutal
tactics
like the
use of
child
soldiers
and
female
suicide
bombers.
It was
also
responsible
for the
assassination
of Rajiv
Gandhi,
a former
prime
minister
of India
who was
hoping
to
return
to
power,
in 1991,
the New
York
Times
states.
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