Kerry says US wants to renew ties with Sri Lanka
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on May 2 the United States wanted to renew ties with Sri Lanka and announced the start of an annual bilateral dialogue after years of tensions with the island nation's former government.
Kerry arrived in the South Asian country earlier on May 2, the first time in a decade that a US secretary of state has visited Sri Lanka.
Washington had years of tensions over human rights with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was unseated by Mathripala Sirisena in a surprise election win in January.
Sri Lanka had also tilted heavily towards China as Rajapaksa fell out with the West over human rights and allegations of war crimes at the end of the government's drawn-out conflict with Tamil separatists, which ended in 2009.
Kerry said Washington wanted to work with Sirisena and lauded the new government's efforts to tackle corruption, build democratic institutions and address the wrongs of the past through a process of national reconciliation.
"I am here today because I want to say to the people of Sri Lanka in this journey to restore democracy the American people will stand with you," Kerry said after meeting Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
"We intend to broaden and to deepen our partnership with you," Kerry said while announcing the annual dialogue.
Samaraweera called Kerry's visit a "momentous occasion" and said it "signified the return of our little island nation to the center stage of international affairs".
Kerry has been credited in Sri Lanka for his role in pressing for peaceful and inclusive elections, and for calling Rajapaksa on the eve of voting to urge him to respect the outcome.
Kerry was due to meet Sirisena later on May 2 as well as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajavarothayam Sampanthan, who heads the main ethnic Tamil political party.
He will also discuss US interest in expanding trade and investment with Sri Lanka, a senior State Department official said. Sri Lanka exports roughly US$2.5 billion in goods, mostly textiles, to the United States a year.