A History of United States - Sri Lanka Relations

Sri Lanka, a democracy independent from colonial rule since February 4^th, 1948, celebrated its fifty-fourth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States on April 26^th, 2002. Over the decades of commerce existing between the two nations, political, economic, investment, cultural, and aid ties have been developed into a mutually advantageous relationship. A political ally, Sri Lanka lures prosperous U.S. companies through appropriate incentives and receives assistance from many international organizations in which the United States is a member.

Contact between the people of the United States and Sri Lanka has been established for over two hundred years, beginning in 1779 when New England sailors first anchored in the harbors of the island country. American visitors returned during the early half of the nineteenth century, this time in search of souls instead of cents with intentions of establishing a the Christian religion in these historically Buddhist lands. Samuel Newell, a New England clergyman, spent several months as a missionary in 1813 and was followed by Reverend Edward Warren, also an early missionary arriving in 1816, who took special interest in educating the people of the area in both English and their own native Tamil language. (Sri Lanka, 12). Since then, education has been a principle motive for the American involvement in the island nation, as many missionaries hoped that founding schools throughout the region would help to bring about needed social reforms, an end to poverty, and overall improvement in the lives of the Sri Lankan people. The first American missionary school opened in Tellipalai in 1816 and by 1848 one hundred and five Tamil schools and sixteen English schools had been founded. In 1823, United States missionaries founded the Batticota Seminary at Vaddukoddai and introduced the first printing press in northern Sri Lanka. By 1841 the Morning Star had become a well-established local newspaper in the region. In 1862, Reverend Miron Winslow published the first comprehensive Tamil-English Dictionary, which would lead to the translation of medical textbooks into Tamil to improve healthcare in the region in the coming years. (Sri Lanka, 14-18). While American missionaries and merchants established a great influence upon the population of Sri Lanka, diplomatic and commercial relations prospered. John Black was named the first American Commercial Agent in Sri Lanka (then recognized as Ceylon) in 1850, formalizing an official trade relationship between the two nations. In fact, ice from New England ponds went so far as to be used to cool beverages in Sri Lanka and graphite from the Sri Lankan mines was extracted and sent to America to compose the lead pencils that millions of American school children use daily (Sri Lanka, 15-18). After independence in 1948, an American Embassy was established in Colombo, cementing favorable trade relations between the two sovereign nations that had been established some two hundred years prior.

A similar stridence for democracy with complementary economic concerns has allowed a close political relationship between the United States and Sri Lanka to evolve. Free press and a parliamentary system allied to its independent judiciary makes Sri Lanka one of the oldest practicing democracies in the developing world. Exercising a Republican form of government, Sri Lanka adopted its current constitution in 1978, mirroring that of the United States, and accomplished universal suffrage in 1931, with the voting age of 18 years old and above. (Rodgers, 95) Also similar to that of the a modern democracy is the Executive branch consisting of a President elected by the people for a

six year term with a two-term limit, acting as the Head of the State and Head of the Government, and a Cabinet of Ministers. A Prime Minister is appointed by the President from among the members of Parliament, the equivalent of the U.S. Congress. Consisting of two hundred twenty five representatives, members of the Parliament are elected for six-year terms at periodical General Elections through a system of proportional representation. The judicial power of the people is exercised by an independent judiciary as headed by the Chief Justice appointed by the President. The different levels of the judiciary include the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, and the Courts of first instance and tribunals. (GOSL Home Page). Linked with the United States in such causes as the fight against terrorism and pursuit of racial equality, Sri Lanka has proclaimed that it advocates concerted international action to eliminate terrorism and committed to dining a just and durable political solution to the grievances of minorities. (Sri Lanka, 23). Several bilateral treaties on aid, education, science and technology, trade, telecommunications, investment protection and avoidance of double taxation, as well as intellectual property rights have been signed between the United States and Sri Lanka, formalizing a positive political relationship.

Many United States volunteer organizations as well as the U.S. Government have assisted Sri Lanka with the intentions of promoting world peace and empowering this East Asian country with economic and political aid. The United States began a cooperative economic relationship with Sri Lanka and since has continued to provided assistance to the economic and social development of Sri Lanka. The US Public Law 480, known as the "Food for Peace" program, provided the means for food including wheat, wheat flour, and rice to be purchased by this island nation. Other products provided under similar assistance programs include fertilizers, agricultural implements, and technical expertise. The U.S. has also been an active participant in the Colombo Plan, making contributions to United Nations agencies operating in Sri Lanka such as the UNDP, FAO, UNICEF, and WHO. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank have provided funds for specific Sri Lankan programs. Since 1956, the CARE program has provided wheat flour, dried milk, cooking oil, and corn-soya for school children in Sri Lanka as a dietary supplement. Upon the replacement of the Marshal Plan following World War II with the "Mutual Security Programme", a new focus was shifted from war-torn countries to assisting developing nations throughout the world to raise the standard of living, thus bringing more U.S. money into Sri Lanka. As a result, on April 28, 1956, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the United States Ambassador in Colombo signed a Bilateral Economic Development and Technical Assistance. Since the 1950s, U.S. assistance to Sri Lanka has totaled approximately 1.6 billion dollars, 613 million of which has been focused on areas of agriculture, private sector development and environment, health and family planning, and a technical training. Another 250 million was spent on the construction of irrigation canals for the accelerated Mahawali Developments Program, and n900 million was used primarily in food aid. The most significant efforts of other projects include major irrigation works in the dry zone, establishment of a malaria control program, highway construction, and provision of thirty diesel locomotives to triple the country's railway capacity. Housing assistance has been provided to expand the capacity of the private housing construction industry by the United States. The Peace Corps was invited to Sri Lanka in 1962 and since that time nearly three hundred trained volunteers have worked in the rural and urban communities of the country, assisting in the areas of agricultural, community development, community health, deaf education, English education, and small business development. In recent years, the amount of aid flowing into Sri Lanka from the United States has drastically decreased, primarily because of a significant growth in economic levels. (Sri Lanka, 29-33, 37-42). The current goal for U.S. assistance in Sri Lanka is to create "broad-based participation in sustainable economic growth and development." (Sri Lanka, 41), maintaining to remain involved in the Sri Lankan economy and social advances on into the twenty first century.

Sources:

Rodgers, Mary, ed. Sri Lanka. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1989.Isaac, S. D., ed. "Budget Proposals - 2001: Impact on the Export Sector" Business Lanka 19.1 (March 2001): 2-7.

Sri Lanka. Embassy of Sri Lanka. 50^th Anniversary of Independence Sri Lanka 1948-1998: Golden Jubilee Commemorative Volume on Sri Lanka - US Relations. Washington, 1998.