…Pompeo blames Easter Sunday attacks on ISIS

Referring to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s inaugural speech in Anuradhapura in last November, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo yesterday (28) said that the US expected Sri Lanka to take tangible measures to promote accountability, justice, and reconciliation.

Addressing the media at the Foreign Ministry after having met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Pompeo reminded that President Rajapaksa stated he was the president of all citizens, not of only those who voted for him. Pompeo said: “And as our two nations move forward, the United States is counting on those words to hold true. We fully expect that Sri Lanka will fulfill its pledges to take meaningful, concrete steps to promote accountability, justice, and reconciliation.”

The Secretary of State said: “My overall message in both engagements was very clear: The United States seeks to strengthen our partnership with democratic, peaceful, prosperous, and fully sovereign Sri Lanka. Our new embassy, for instance, is nearing completion. It’s a sign of our commitment to the country and to the people of Sri Lanka, and we of course spend a good deal of time talking about our cooperation in defeating the pandemic that came from Wuhan, China.

The United States has donated now just over $6 million in COVID assistance to Sri Lanka, and early in the pandemic, Sri Lankan factories and garment manufacturers quickly filled hundreds – hundreds of orders for high-quality PPE, and we are grateful for this output which saved American lives. Thank you so much.

President Trump is working hard with our private sector to develop vaccines and therapeutics to beat this virus and benefit our peoples and indeed the peoples of the entire world. We’ll need the power of private industry to regain our economic footing now and in the future, and we look forward to working with the people of Sri Lanka on that matter.

We talked about this a great deal. We talked about our economic relationship, great American companies that are here today. Brands like Coke and Oracle and IBM are here certifying – or excuse me, creating high-quality jobs. These American companies are the most reliable partners on the planet. They’re accountable to the law, they’re transparent, they’re assets to the communities in which they operate.

And as I conveyed today, good governance, transparency in policy consistently will attract even more American investment. Those principles are deeply consistent with Sri Lanka’s history, its heritage as the oldest democracy in Asia.

We also had a wide-ranging discussion on our security cooperation which helps keep some of the world’s most vital sea lanes open, as the minister recognized, in addition to our joint trainings. I’m proud that Sri Lankan officers received training at the United States institutions like West Point, my alma mater, and I’m also proud the United States has donated two Coast Guard cutters that are now Sri Lanka’s navy patrolling your waters.

Indeed, a strong, sovereign Sri Lanka is a powerful and strategic partner for the United States on the world stage. It can be a beacon for a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Look, that’s quite a contrast to what China seeks. We see from bad deals, violations of sovereignty and lawlessness on land and sea that the Chinese Communist Party is a predator, and the United States comes in a different way. We come as a friend and as a partner.

Finally, this afternoon, I’ll travel – it’s important for me to take a moment to go and visit the Shrine of St. Anthony, one of the five sites that were attacked by ISIS on Easter Sunday of 2019. I’ll shortly have the chance to pay my respects to the hundreds of victims of evil terrorists, including five Americans. I’m proud that the State Department has offered substantial counterterrorism assistance to help Sri Lankans bring killers of Americans and their own people to justice. These Easter Sunday attacks represent the kind of sectarianism that Sri Lankans are ready to leave behind forever. Sri Lankans of all backgrounds – Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims alike – want a peaceful nation where their human rights are respected.