Sri Lanka told the United States not to base its relationships on human rights, warning this was where it was "falling behind" to China, reported Bloomberg.
"[Human rights] should not be the yardstick by which you base your relationship, especially bilaterally in a geopolitical situation as what we face globally today,” said Sajin de Vass Gunawardena, the Sri Lankan president's coordination secretary in an interview in Washington on Tuesday.
"That’s where, fundamentally, the U.S. is falling behind and where China is gaining," he added.
Echoing his views, Sri Lanka's new ambassador to the US, Prasad Kariyawasam said,
“We welcome the U.S. as we welcome China, but China perhaps appreciates and recognized our potential."
Rejecting widespread international criticism that Sri Lanka had failed to ensure accountability for the killings of tens of thousands of Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict, Vass Gunawardena said “a common myth that exists is that we haven’t addressed accountability.”
“We have gone on a process that is good for the people of Sri Lanka that is good for the country. It may not be with the agenda of the LTTE diaspora, with the expats living outside of Sri Lanka, but it is good for the people of Sri Lanka.”
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