US hails Sri Lanka’s 100 days agenda

Colombo: The United States said that despite some difficult challenges ahead for Sri Lanka, the country has put forward an ambitious agenda for their first 100 days, the Sri Lankan president’s office said on Tuesday.
Visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal made the comments while meeting Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday.

Biswal also said Sri Lanka can count on the US to be a partner and a friend in the way forward. Biswal is currently on a two-day visit to the island country aimed at establishing ties with the new Sri Lankan government which came to power following the Jan 8 presidential election.

“Sri Lanka can count on the US to be a partner and a friend in the way forward. Whether it is on rebuilding the economy, on preventing corruption and advancing good governance, and ensuring human rights and democratic participation for all of its citizens,” Biswal added.

She further said that the US looked forward to growing and deepening the partnership between the two countries and to advancing trade and investment. In an effort to boost ties between the two countries, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who met Biswal in Colombo on Monday, said that he will be traveling to Washington next week for talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry.