United States Vice-President-elect Mike Pence telephoned Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and discussed strengthening of relations between the two countries, the government information department said on Friday.
Mr. Pence had called Sirisena on Thursday evening and invited the Sri Lankan President to visit the U.S., it said.
Mr. Sirisena congratulated Mr. Pence and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on their victory. He told Mr. Pence that the two sides could work with each other in a broad democratic space. The two leaders discussed several other issues pertaining to bilateral relations.
War crime charges
On Saturday, Mr. Sirisena had told a political rally that he was planning to write to Mr. Trump urging him to drop the war crimes charges against Sri Lanka levelled at the U.N. Human Rights Council.
The Obama administration had backed three successive resolutions against Sri Lanka under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa since 2012 — the last of which in 2014 recommended an international investigation.
The Tamil minority was expecting Mr. Trump’s rival Hillary Clinton to beat him and had offered religious prayers for her victory.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Presidential Transition Team in the U.S. said that Mr. Sirisena thanked the Vice President-elect for his commitment to strong relations between the two nations and to government reform.
Desire to work together
“Vice President-elect Pence shared his gratitude for the desire to work together and complimented President Sirisena for the work he has done to heal Sri Lanka and unite the country following civil war,” the statement said.
According to the Presidential Transition Team, Mr. Pence also spoke with the President of Mongolia, Prime Minister of Jamaica, President of Cyprus, Vice-President of the European Union and President of Armenia.
Mr. Trump has spoken with more than 40 world leaders so far, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
