US State Secretary says SL has an opportunity to form more democratic Govt:

Sri Lanka is in a moment of challenge and crisis but has an opportunity to create a more democratic and an inclusive Government, says the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

Blinken made the remarks when he met with the Foreign Minister Ali Sabry at the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Cambodia.

The US Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Sabry also discussed the IMF bail conditions, with Secretary Blinken.

He highlighted that the US is very supportive of Sri Lanka and the IMF working out an arrangement which also requires appropriate debt restructuring that has to be done on an equitable basis with all of the creditors.

Foreign Minister Sabry stated that he appreciates the role played by the U.S. in trying to get an IMF bailout as soon as possible and the debt being restructured, while adding that there are challenges as well as opportunities which come along with the challenges.

“We see that there is a huge obligation on our part to put the country back on track and get its economy out of the woods, which we are going through right now, and we look forward to work with the American administration, U.S. administration throughout.

And we are very thankful for all the support. In the recent past we have seen a very high-level delegation visiting Sri Lanka, and then we have had several roundtable discussions and we have had a lot of support for our IMF approach from the U.S. Treasury and State Department and from the government in general.” he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also discussed the situation in Sri Lanka at a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

Blinken tweeted saying during the meeting with Jaishankar he discussed the implications of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Sri Lanka’s economic and political situation.

The meeting took place in Phnom Penh in Cambodia on the sidelines of the US-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum.