US officials arrive in Sri Lanka to prepare for Pompeo visit

COLOMBO (News1st): Members of US State Secretary Mike Pompeo’s office have arrived in Sri Lanka to prepare for his upcoming visit expected this month. All aspects of the arrival and the stay of these officials have been organized in close coordination with the Sri Lankan government, the US Embassy in Colombo said. A senior State Department official said the US is urging the country to make “difficult but necessary choices” to secure its economic independence instead of choosing opaque practises. U.S. officials have warned the Sri Lankan government about who they team up with for their economic partnerships, according to a Reuters report. “We encourage Sri Lanka to review the options we offer for transparent and sustainable economic development in contrast to discriminatory and opaque practises,” Dean Thompson, principal deputy assistant secretary at State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs has said.