Sri Lanka is urging the U.S. to avoid letting human rights concerns dominate the relationship between the countries five years after the end of a civil war that killed as many as 40,000 civilians.
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka is occurring at a “rapid pace” and the government is focused on strengthening its economy, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, a lawmaker and coordinating secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said in an interview in Washington. Human rights issues shouldn’t hinder closer economic ties with the U.S., he said.
Reconciliation in Sri Lanka is occurring at a “rapid pace” and the government is focused on strengthening its economy, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, a lawmaker and coordinating secretary to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said in an interview in Washington. Human rights issues shouldn’t hinder closer economic ties with the U.S., he said.
“That should not be the yardstick by which you base your relationship, especially bilaterally in a geopolitical situation as what we face globally today,” de Vass Gunawardena said on July 15. “That’s where, fundamentally, the U.S. is falling behind and where China is gaining.”
The U.S. has sponsored three United Nations resolutions in as many years calling on Sri Lanka to address alleged violations of international law committed during a three-decade civil war. Deepening economic ties with China offer Rajapaksa a cushion from measures aimed at forcing cooperation with the probe.
“We welcome the U.S. as we welcome China, but China perhaps appreciates and recognized our potential,” Prasad Kariyawasam, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview in Washington. “They are quick to work on that.”
The UN last month announced the formation of a team to investigate allegations of war crimes in the island nation in the army’s battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Sri Lanka has denied the charges and said it won’t cooperate with the probe.
By Nina Glinski and Anusha Ondaatjie
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