• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Sri Lanka - United States Relations

The United States enjoys cordial relations with Sri Lanka that are based, in large part, on shared democratic traditions. US policy toward Sri Lanka is characterized by respect for its independence, sovereignty, and moderate nonaligned foreign policy; support for the country's unity, territorial integrity, and democratic institutions; and encouragement of its social and economic development. The United States is a strong supporter of ethnic reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s strategic importance to the United States, China, and India is viewed by some as a key piece in a larger geopolitical dynamic, what has been referred to as a new "Great Game." While all three countries share an interest in securing maritime trade routes, the United States has invested relatively few economic and security resources in Sri Lanka, preferring to focus instead on the political environment. Sri Lanka’s geostrategic importance to American interests has been neglected as a result.

The Sri Lankan Goverment says American attitudes and military restrictions led it to build relationships with China, Burma, Iran,and Libya. The Minister of Science and Technology and All-Party Representative Committee Chairman Tissa Vitarana Minister has said, "We have the United States to thank for pushing us closer to China." According to Vitarana, President Rajapaksa was forced to reach out to other countries because the West refused to help Sri Lanka finish the war against the LTTE. These calculations — if left unchecked — threaten long-term U.S. strategic interests in the Indian Ocean.

Sri Lanka has been a friend and democratic partner of the United States since gaining independence in 1948 and has supported U.S. military operations overseas such as during the first Gulf War. Commercial contacts go back to 1787, when New England sailors first anchored in Sri Lanka's harbors to engage in trade. Sri Lanka is strategically located at the nexus of maritime trading routes connecting Europe and the Middle East to China and the rest of Asia. It is directly in the middle of the ``Old World,'' where an estimated half of the world's container ships transit the Indian Ocean.

Much of the intelligentsia in Sri Lanka and much of the press share a general anti-U.S. bias. Intellectuals, such as they are in Sri Lanka, are mostly influenced by Marxism to a large extent with a fair amount having studied in the former Soviet Union, and they routinely chatter against US "hegemony" and "world empire." In the meantime, Sri Lanka's press -- both the English and vernacular -- contains a large amount of anti-U.S. commentary, including the ritual condemnations of US policy on Iraq and alleged excesses in the war on terrorism. The government in the past also came under considerable heat for allegedly wanting to make Sri Lanka a U.S. "lackey."

American interests in the region include securing energy resources from the Persian Gulf and maintaining the free flow of trade in the Indian Ocean. These interests are also important to one of America's strategic partners, Japan, who is almost totally dependent on energy supplies transiting the Indian Ocean. The three major threats in the Indian Ocean come from terrorism, interstate conflict, and piracy. There have been some reports of pirate activity in the atoll islands near Sri Lanka.

U.S. assistance has totaled more than $2 billion since Sri Lanka's independence in 1948. Through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), it has contributed to Sri Lanka's economic growth with projects designed to reduce unemployment, improve housing, develop the Colombo Stock Exchange, modernize the judicial system, and improve competitiveness. At the June 2003 Tokyo Donors' Conference on Sri Lanka, the United States pledged $54 million, including $40.4 million of USAID funding. Following the 2004 tsunami, the United States provided $135 million in relief and reconstruction assistance. The United States provided over $51.4 million in humanitarian assistance in 2009, and pledged at least $34.5 million for 2010.

In addition, the International Broadcast Bureau (IBB)--formerly Voice of America (VOA)--operates a radio-transmitting station in Sri Lanka. The U.S. Armed Forces maintain a limited military-to-military relationship with the Sri Lanka defense establishment.

Since 1956, USAID has invested more than $1.9 billion in Sri Lanka according to the USAID Mission in Colombo. In 2008, the United States successfully completed its $134.5 million tsunami reconstruction program, and the rehabilitation infrastructure was handed over to the Sri Lankan Goverment. Current programs focus on the Eastern Province and adjoining areas, and USAID plans to extend assistance to the North by helping war-torn communities return to normalcy as soon as possible. In 2009, the United States was the leading donor of food and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka, with a total USAID budget of $43.12 million. More than 280,000 IDPs have been assisted by food rations, water and sanitation facilities, temporary shelters, emergency medical treatment, and mobility aids for the disabled.

The congressionally funded Asia Foundation has been in Sri Lanka since 1954 and has played a quiet but important role in supporting Sri Lankan Goverment and civil society initiatives to strengthen democratic institutions, the rule of law and human rights.

On the security front, the United States and Sri Lanka have enjoyed friendly military-to-military relations and defense relations, although the U.S. scaled back security assistance in recent years. Sri Lanka continues to grant blanket over-flight and landing clearance to U.S. military aircraft and routinely grants access to ports by U.S. vessels. U.S. military training and defense assistance programs have provided basic infantry supplies, maritime surveillance, and interdiction equipment for the navy and communications and mobility equipment to improve the Army's humanitarian effort and U.N. peacekeeping missions, according to the Congressional Research Service. In 2007, the United States and Sri Lanka signed an Acquisition and Cross-Services Agreement, which created a framework for increased military interoperability.

Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Sri Lanka to show that the US “applauds the vision” of that country’s new government. Kerry visited Colombo on 02 May 2015 as part of a weeklong trip that includes stops in Kenya and Djibouti. He was the first secretary of state to visit Sri Lanka since Colin Powell did so in 2004.

Under the country’s former president it had become a one-issue relationship. Former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration was accused of widespread human rights violations during the final phase of a civil war against Tamil Tiger rebels, who waged a 30-year battle for an independent Tamil state. Investigators estimate that tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed shortly before the conflict ended in 2009.

Kerry met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other government officials. Kerry said it will take time for Sri Lanka to reach true reconciliation following its decades-long ethnic conflict with Tamil separatists. He added that lasting peace, especially after a civil conflict "requires polices that foster reconciliation, not resentment." He also called for an investigation into the cases of thousands of Tamils who went missing during the conflict.

The US is urging Sri Lanka to make the “difficult but necessary choices” to secure its economic independence for long-term prosperity instead of choosing opaque practices, Dean Thompson, principal deputy assistant secretary at State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said on 22 October 2020. “We encourage Sri Lanka to review the options we offer for transparent and sustainable economic development in contrast to discriminatory and opaque practices,” said Thompson.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sri Lanka next week as part of a wider trip that includes India, Maldives and Indonesia with the main goal expected to be garnering support in countering China. Pompeo’s trip comes a week before the November 3 US election in which President Donald Trump has made being tough on China a key part of his campaign to secure a second term.