America is keen to partner with Sri Lanka

Friday, 14 August 2015 05:41 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The new US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives Atul Keshap says the American people want to partner with the people of Sri Lanka as they forge a diverse, prosperous, unified, reconciled and democratic nation.

He said this after taking oaths yesterday and becoming the second Indian-origin diplomat to be posted to the region after Richard 05-2 Rahul Verma, the New Indian Express reported.

Keshap, 44, a former official at the US Embassy in India, was administered the oath of office by Deputy US Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Anne Higginbottom.

Keshap was confirmed by the US Senate as the country’s envoy last week. It would be his first Ambassadorial posting. In his previous capacity as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in South and Central Asian Affairs, Keshap had visited Sri Lanka and Maldives on several occasions.

“For me to serve as the Ambassador of the United States of America to Sri Lanka and Maldives gives me great personal joy and a renewed and tremendous sense of dedication and solemn commitment to the values that make our country a beacon of Liberty, a lamp lit beside the golden door. I very much look forward to working with the people of these beautiful and wondrous lands,” he said.