Washington, Aug 15 (IANS) The time has come for Sri Lanka and the US to build military relations on a stronger footing.
This was the outcome of a meeting here Monday between Vikram Singh, the new US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, and Jaliya Wickramasuriya, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the US.
Wickramasuriya and Singh concurred that relations between two countries had deepened and grown across a broad range of areas including in the sphere of military cooperation over the years.
“It was agreed that the time is opportune to build US-Sri Lanka defense relations on a stronger footing,” a statement from the Sri Lankan embassy here said.
The envoy briefed Singh on Sri Lanka’s post-conflict security concerns and recent economic and political developments.
“Singh (said) the two countries can work together as partners sharing common security aims,” the statement said.
“Enhanced cooperation in countering terrorism and piracy, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, coordinated efforts towards securing free trade and commerce and sea lines of communications would be mutually beneficial to the two countries,” it said.
