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Monday, December 07, 2009 - 05.20 GMT

Less confrontation towards Sri Lanka – US Senate Committee

 

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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Last modified: December 07, 2009.

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