The visiting United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Dr. Paul Kapoor, met with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at the Presidential Secretariat on the afternoon of June 22.
During the meeting, both sides recalled the 77-year-long bilateral relationship between Sri Lanka and the United States and noted that ties between the two countries have evolved into a strong and multifaceted partnership encompassing trade, defence, investment, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.
Expressing his satisfaction with the existing bilateral cooperation, Dr. Kapoor reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to further strengthening and continuing this partnership.
The discussions also focused on developments in the Middle East. Both parties observed that the current situation in the region is moving in a positive direction and expressed confidence that the peace agreement reached on June 19 would contribute towards achieving lasting peace and stability.
President Dissanayake recalled Sri Lanka’s humanitarian policy and noted that, in March last year, the country had taken legally sanctioned measures to provide humanitarian assistance to two ships that encountered distress near Sri Lankan territorial waters. The US Assistant Secretary of State commended Sri Lanka’s actions in this regard.
The President further emphasized Sri Lanka’s commitment to providing maximum support for peace and stability in the region.
Attention was also drawn to trade relations between the two countries. As the United States remains Sri Lanka’s largest single-country export market, discussions focused on enhancing existing trade cooperation in a manner that would be beneficial to both nations, as well as on the tariffs imposed on Sri Lankan exports.
President Dissanayake pointed out that Sri Lanka, as a small economy, cannot be compared with a large economy such as the United States. He noted that narrowing the trade gap between the two countries remains a challenging task. Both sides therefore emphasized the importance of concluding the proposed trade agreement between Sri Lanka and the United States at the earliest opportunity.
Also present at the meeting were Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Anil Jayantha Fernando, Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Acting US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jayne Howell, Senior Economic Program Manager at the US Department of State Matthew Ridgeway, Chief of the Political Section of the US Embassy Shailaja Kim, and other members of the visiting delegation.
Source: Presidential Media Division
22 June 2026
