Hidden agendas behind Pompeo’s visit: JVP

By Ajith Siriwardana   

While claiming that there were hidden agendas behind the arrival of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) yesterday urged United States not to interfere with the independence and sovereignty of Sri Lanka.  

JVP MP Vijitha Herath told media outside the US Embassy in Colombo that the USA has consistently resorted to bring Sri Lanka under its sphere of influence and thereby drag Sri Lanka into an unnecessary and costly global and regional power play.  

He said the Sri Lankan Government was having hidden agendas of discussing the MCC pact with the visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.   

“The President or the Prime Minister had not officially said that the MCC would not be signed. We are sure that the government was planning to discuss the MCC pact,” he said.   The JVP staged a protest against Mr. Pompeo’s visit yesterday and submitted a letter to the US Embassy.   In the letter they said “We do not believe that the visit of US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo to Sri Lanka is at all to do with a “commitment to a strong, independent, and democratic Sri Lanka” as stated in the briefing of the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Dean Thompson and Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell on October 22, 2020.”