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US urged not to proceed with resolution based on unverified ‘desk-reviewed’ info, etc.

Amb. Aryasinha cites Gash, Smith:
Following Gen. Chagie Gallage’s strong condemnation of what he called a sininster US move to harass Sri Lanka further, as reported by The Island recently, the Sri Lankan government has formally requested the US House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) not to proceed with H. RES. 413 against Sri Lanka moved by Congresswoman Deborah Ross (Democrat/North Carolina) on 18 May 2021.
In a letter addressed to HFAC Chair Representative Gregory Meeks (Democrat/New York) and Ranking Member Representative Michael McCaul (Republican/Texas), Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the USA Ravinatha Aryasinha said, “Sri Lanka vehemently opposes the contents of the resolution which contains allegations relating to Sri Lanka that are inaccurate, biased and unsubstantiated, raising grave suspicion regarding the intention of the resolution”.
The letter was accompanied by a detailed analysis of the resolution, which laid out paragraph by paragraph, its prejudicial nature.
The Ambassador observed that the proposed resolution which equates the LTTE – proscribed by the US since 1997 and named by the FBI in 2008 as “among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world” – to an ‘armed independence organization’, exposes the resolution’s origins and purpose.
The Resolution encourages separatism and questions even the nature of the Sri Lanka State, by references to ‘Traditional Tamil Homelands’. This not only misrepresents established historical facts, and present-day realities, but also contributes to supporting the dismemberment of Sri Lanka, which is the ultimate goal of the LTTE and its supporters.
Ambassador Aryasinha said the resolution’s willful ignorance of the USA’s own security concerns about the LTTE and its front organizations and efforts at glorification of terrorism, will give inspiration to rump elements of the LTTE and its numerous front organizations within the US and across the world, as well as to other terrorist organizations.
Observing that the USA had been “a consistent defense partner of Sri Lanka, including in Sri Lanka’s war against terror”, the Ambassador said “the resolution which is at significant variance with stated U.S. policy, across Administrations – both Democratic and Republican, may lead to an erroneous conclusion that the House supports armed acts to achieve political goals. This would undermine the US Administration’s own foreign policy foundation of being rooted in democratic values, and negatively impact the warm bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and the USA”.
It asserts that the Sri Lanka Government, having struggled for nearly 30 years to defeat LTTE terrorism, consistent with its constitutional duties to protect its citizens regardless of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion or place of birth, launched a humanitarian operation to protect and liberate all Sri Lankans. It also outlined the measures taken by the Government since the defeat of terrorism in May 2009, to address the needs of 300,000 internally displaced who had been used as human shields by the retreating LTTE, to rebuild and develop infrastructure in the conflict affected areas and to restore livelihood opportunities to many, including to over 12,000 ex-LTTE combatants – also comprising 596 child soldiers, who were rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society.
Ambassador Aryasinha recalled that following the ending of the conflict, the then government in 2013 conducted Northern Provincial Council elections, ensuring democratic freedoms and rights to the people of the North. He noted that since 2017, all minority parties in Parliament, including the TNA, supported the deferral of elections, through a ruling that required electoral reform prior to holding PC elections, which never materialized. For nearly 3 years, the HRC or Western countries having not taken issue with the delay of elections to Provincial Councils, including that of the Northern Province, however, presently have projected it as a major issue, at a time the current government has taken the initiative to appoint a Parliamentary Committee to make recommendations on this matter.
Noting that reports on Sri Lanka cited in the Resolution, including the OISL Report of 2015, constituted a mere subjective narrative of events including “desk-reviewed” information, the Ambassador said that these documents failed to reveal sources and were not verifiable. On the contrary, there was an abundance of verifiable evidence that has been ignored, contained in, interalia, the Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), the ‘Paranagama Commission’, reports from the UN and international agencies including the UNDP, UNICEF and the ICRC, as well as information presented before the UK House of Lords by Lord Naseby challenging among other things the vastly exaggerated civilian casualty figures. Expert opinions including by international legal luminaries, as well as dispatches in real time by Colonel Anton Gash, Military
Attaché of the British High Commission in Colombo and statements by Lt. Col. Lawrence Smith who had served as Defense Attaché of the US Embassy during the last phase of the conflict, also contested this narrative.
Ambassador Aryasinha also observed that, having had Sri Lanka co-sponsor UN Resolution 30/1 in October 2015 and extracted a commitment that Sri Lanka will initiate an accountability mechanism which would include foreign judges and lawyers, which was unconstitutional, for 5 years neither the UN bodies nor the US and other proponents of this resolution, pressed the previous government to carry out its promises.
He said, calling for an “international mechanism” at this juncture is sinister, at a time the present Government has provided a credible transparent domestic process to address the concerns raised, by in January 2021 instituting a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI), which had on 4 March 2021 “invited any person, persons or organizations to submit written representations or information or any other material which relates to the above for the Commission to inquire”. The Commission has been conducting hearings since April and heard testimony from witnesses.
Business
Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves up by USD 2billion over the past year – Acting Finance Minister

Acting Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya during a press conference held today (21) at the Presidential Media Center, focusing on the theme of ‘Collective Path to a Stable Country’ said that over the past year, the government successfully increased the country’s foreign reserves from 1.8 billion dollars to 3.8 billion dollars.
He added that in August 2022, the exchange rate stood at Rs. 361 per dollar, but by August 2023, one dollar could be acquired for Rs. 321. This shift is not the result of artificial control but rather a reflection of the rupee’s value adjusting in response to supply and demand for the dollar, which holds significant economic importance.
The interest rate for deposits, previously at 14% in 2022, has been lowered to 11%, while the loan interest rate, previously at 15.5%, has been reduced to 12% this year. Notably, last year, the primary account deficit was Rs. -247 billion, but this year it has turned into a surplus of Rs. 27 billion. This marks the first surplus in the primary account balance in over 40 years.
Tourist arrivals, which numbered 496,430 in 2022, have surged to 904,318 during the first two quarters of this year. Equally impressive is the growth in tourism earnings, which rose from 832.6 million US dollars in 2022 to 1,304.5 million US dollars in the first two quarters of this year, reflecting a remarkable 56.7% increase compared to the previous year.
In the past year, the amount of money remitted by Sri Lankans living abroad to Sri Lanka has surged from 2,214.8 million US dollars to 3,862.7 million US dollars this year, marking a remarkable 74.4% increase according to data from the Ministry of Finance.
On August 1, 2022, the QR code system was introduced as a measure to manage petroleum demand due to foreign exchange shortages. This led to a significant disparity between normal demand and supply, resulting in a notable increase in diesel consumption by 28% and petrol consumption by 83% in June 2023, when the QR system was partially relaxed. However, as of September 1, the QR code system, which directly impacts economic growth, has been completely lifted.
Upon assuming office, President Ranil Wickremesinghe faced a daunting challenge of addressing a 14-hour power outage, which had a direct impact on the economy. Presently, the government ensures a continuous and stable electricity supply to the population.
As of August 23, 2023, there were 1467 imported goods banned due to foreign exchange shortages. Currently, the ban applies to only 279 items. Furthermore, the import of vehicles, which had been halted in 2020, now includes buses and trucks for public transport.
In April 2022, the country faced difficulties in meeting its debt obligations. However, the government has since secured the first installment under the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Credit Scheme, contributing to stabilizing the country’s economy compared to the previous year.
(PMC)
News
President Wickremesinghe meets US President Joe Biden in New York

President Joe Biden of the United States and President Ranil Wickremesinghe engaged in a cordial meeting in New York on Thursday (20).
The high-profile meeting took place amidst a lavish dinner hosted by President Biden, for all the heads of state who had participated in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
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