Minister of Foreign Affairs Tilak Marapana who was on an official visit to the United States from May 15-17, met with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on May 16.
The Minister expressed Sri Lanka’s appreciation for U.S. support in the wake of the Easter Sunday attacks on April 21, and the continuing support for Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism. On behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, he expressed condolences on the death of five U.S. citizens among whom was an official of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Minister Marapana and Secretary Pompeo welcomed the approval of a $480 million Millennium Challenge Compact, which would support economic development in Sri Lanka. They also discussed the U.S.–Sri Lanka relationship and future cooperation.
Later, Minister Marapana led the Sri Lankan delegation to the third United States–Sri Lanka Partnership Dialogue. The Partnership Dialogue provides regular and structured engagement to review and strengthen bilateral relations. The joint statement from the Partnership Dialogue is attached.
During the visit, Foreign Minister Marapana also met with the U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton.
The delegation led by Minister Marapana included Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka Ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxembourg Rodney Perera, Chargé d’affaires of the Sri Lanka Embassy in the United States Sarath Dissanayake, the Foreign Ministry’s Director General for North America, Latin America and the Caribbean Shanika Dissanayake, Director General for UN and Legal Affairs Shobini Gunasekera, Legal Advisor of the Information and Communication Technology Agency Jayantha Fernando, Director of the Central Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit D.M. Rupasinghe, Advisor to the Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Anushka Wijesinha, the Embassy’s Minister for Political Affairs Priyanga Wickramasinghe, Minister for Commercial Affairs Sumedha Ponnamperuma and Counsellor for Political Affairs Chatura Perera.