COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday championed the new Sri Lankan government's push for democratic changes and promised closer ties with the Indian Ocean nation.
"I am here today because I want to say to the people of Sri Lanka that in this journey to restore your democracy the American people will stand with you," said Kerry, the first secretary of state to visit Sri Lanka in a decade.
Kerry met with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera.
Today, he planned to see leaders from the Tamil minority.
Sri Lanka's government is determined to end years of international isolation linked to its long war with Tamil separatists.
When Kerry arrived at the Foreign Ministry for a meeting, he was greeted by a large sign bearing the word "Welcome," his photograph exhibited alongside a photo of Sirisena.
A young girl placed an ornate flower necklace over his dark blue suit, and he walked toward the building down a red carpet passing dozens of traditional drummers and dancers performing in his honor.
"We intend to broaden and deepen our partnership with you," Kerry said.
Washington will also help Sri Lanka fight corruption and recover stolen assets if any are stashed in the United States, he said. And he announced a new U.S. embassy will be built in the capital, Colombo.
After years of tension with Sri Lanka over human-rights abuses under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who lost to Sirisena in a January election, the United States and Sri Lanka will renew their ties by establishing an annual dialogue, Kerry said.
In addition, he said, the Commerce and Treasury departments will send advisers to help develop a plan for more investment and economic growth. Colombo is undergoing a construction boom, and many parts of the island that were considered security risks during the war are now opening up to tourism. According to the State Department, Sri Lankan exports to the United States amount to $2.5 billion per year.
Samaraweera said Kerry's visit "signifies our little island nation's return to the center stage of international affairs."
The minister said Sri Lanka would become a "full-fledged parliamentary democracy" and an "investor's paradise."
"Today Sri Lanka is well on its way to becoming a fully fledged parliament democracy, laying the foundation for a new Sri Lanka, built on the pillars of democracy and ethnic harmony," he added.
The last U.S. secretary of state to come to Sri Lanka was Colin Powell, in early 2005 after the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The diplomatic overtures from Washington are a turnaround in the U.S. attitude toward Sri Lanka. During the island nation's 26-year-old military campaign against insurgents known as the Tamil Tigers, who sought to carve out an independent state on part of the island, accusations of human-rights abuses were rampant on both sides.
The Tamil separatists were crushed in 2009, but Rajapaksa's autocratic tendencies raised concern in many capitals, including Washington.
This past week, the parliament voted nearly unanimously to endorse Sirisena's proposals to clip the powers of the president that Rajapaksa had expanded significantly.
Encouraged by the new atmosphere, the United States helped in postponing for six months the publication of a United Nations inquiry into possible war crimes by Sri Lanka. The U.N. human-rights chief is among those expected to visit the country soon.
U.S. officials have voiced optimism about the changes, saying they do not want to interfere with a "domestic-led process of reconciliation" underway.
Some human-rights campaigners believe the U.S. is congratulating Sirisena too soon.
Kerry's trip is "being read locally as an increasing stamp of approval for the new government," said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. He criticized the trip for not including a planned visit to the Tamil-majority north and said he viewed the omission as "an indication that the U.S. no longer really cares about the massive rights abuses that occurred there and the rights issues which are still relevant today."
Kerry, in a speech late Saturday, addressed the need for justice and equality for the Tamils -- even about claims of war crimes and crimes against humanity by government forces.
Suppressing old grievances will not eliminate them, he said, and denying people a chance to express their objections through the law means they will try to do so outside the law.
He also offered U.S. technical help in organizing reconciliation with the Tamils.
"It will be harder, not easier, to move forward," Kerry said. "True peace is more than the absence of war," he added, and "requires policies that foster reconciliation, not resentment."
Information for this article was contributed by Bradley Klapper of The Associated Press and by Carol Morello of The Washington Post.
A Section on 05/03/2015