The US will only resume a more comprehensive military relationship with Sri Lanka once the government has made progress towards reconciliation and accountability, the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs said at a talk at Harvard University.
Speaking on "U.S. Foreign Policy in South Asia: A Vision for Prosperity and Security", Assistant Secretary Nisha Biswal said the US continues to call for credible efforts to ensure accountability and justice.
"While the prosperity agenda in South Asia is critically important, so too is enhancing political stability and regional security. In order to enhance that stability and security, our foreign policy is designed around engagement – even on the toughest and most vexing issues,
"Sri Lanka has fortunately ended its civil war, though reconciliation has proved challenging. Following the March UN Human Rights Council resolution in Sri Lanka, we continue to call for credible efforts to ensure accountability and justice. We look forward to a resumption of a more comprehensive military relationship once the Government of Sri Lanka has made better progress toward reconciliation and accountability."
See further excerpts from her address below:
"[W]e live in one of the most complex moments in world affairs. Our world has never been more globalized – brought closer by technology and innovation – but we still must contend with the ills of inequality, conflict and poverty.
"Nowhere is this more evident than in Asia. Home to nearly two-thirds of the world’s population, squeezed into one-third of the world’s landmass, the countries of Asia manifest nearly every global challenge and are also brimming with opportunity. If Asian economies are able to address key challenges, by 2050, Asia will comprise half of global GDP. As Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns said just last week, Asia “matters enormously to the rest of the world – from our partners in the Gulf, whose oil exports move increasingly toward rising demand in the east; to our allies in Europe, whose economic revival hinges increasingly on Asian growth.”
"I assure you the United States is as engaged as ever across the Asian continent. President Obama and Secretary Kerry have said that “the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future.”
"[R]egional growth hinges on the region’s economic engine. In South Asia, that engine is India.
"But India faces real vulnerabilities. Over 400 million people in India lack reliable access to energy. Road traffic is supposed to quintuple in six years but highway construction is slated to grow at a paltry 4% a year.
India’s leaders have targeted to spend $1 trillion dollars over five years in infrastructure investment to close the infrastructure gap that prevents real growth in the manufacturing sector, yet it continues to have policies that inhibit foreign investment. India still ranks poorly amongst all countries as a hospitable place to invest and start a new business, ranked 134 out of 189 countries. And India must meet the skills gap to grow its economy –In fact, India needs eight times the number of trained architects and civil engineers than it has now to meet its growth projections.
"So, without sugar-coating its challenges – a tough neighborhood, tightening economic growth and the mounting impacts of pollution on public health – India, the world’s largest democracy, must decide its own path to the future. Will it make the reforms necessary to attract investment? Will it capitalize on the opportunities that lie in front of it?
"Those are the questions that India’s voters are asking as they cast their ballots and those are the questions that we want to see answered.
"The United States is committed to growing the trade and investment ties between our two countries. We want to grow trade to $500 billion a year. And, there’s no question that India’s economic success is vital to achieving the strategic aims that both our leaders have laid out. In that vein, we pledge to look forward, and not dwell on the past."