U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap said that the U.S. will be ready to support Sri Lanka as the island nation chart a future for the country that is “peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous” and would help forge new partnerships, new dialogues, new exchanges, based on mutual respect and inclusive consultation. This statement was made at the opening of the USAID sponsored Constitutionalism Seminar.

The United States and Sri Lanka have a longstanding partnership dating back a hundred years before Sri Lanka’s independence. He went on to say that the U.S. supports the people of Sri Lanka because the two countries are linked by similar ideals about the basic rights of citizens. The seminar was organized to enlighten Sri Lankan parliamentarians on the process of formulating a new constitution, commended the new unity Government of Sri Lanka for taking “many commendable steps to promote and protect the civil and political rights of all Sri Lankans including the right to freedom of expression, respecting the independence of government institutions, and upholding rule of law.”