US should not ‘lose’ Sri Lanka to China, rivals
* Senate report says US alienating Colombo as island boosts ties with Western adversaries
WASHINGTON: A US Senate report on Monday urged more engagement with Sri Lanka as it recovers from war, warning that Washington risks “losing” the island to China and Western adversaries.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a bipartisan study, said the United States should be firm on human rights concerns including treatment of journalists and said a “culture of fear and paranoia” had permeated Sri Lanka.
Alienating Colombo: But the report worried the US was alienating Sri Lanka as the island, historically friendly to Washington, boosts ties with China along with pariah states in Western eyes such as Iran and Myanmar.
“The United States cannot afford to ‘lose’ Sri Lanka,” the study said.
It warned that persistent criticism without engagement could push Sri Lanka down a path like Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, which has become isolated from much of the world.
Sri Lankan troops in May killed the top leadership of the Tamil Tiger rebels, ending a bloody 37-year-old guerrilla war that left tens of thousands of people dead.
“Sri Lanka is at a critical juncture in its efforts to secure a lasting peace,” Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement to release the report.
The study said Sri Lanka was strategically important partly due to its location in the Indian Ocean, lying along shipping routes between the Middle East and East Asia including those bringing nearly all the oil to US ally Japan.
“While humanitarian concerns remain important, US policy toward Sri Lanka cannot be dominated by a single agenda,” it said. afp
US should not ‘lose’ Sri Lanka to China, rivals
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