Observing that a lot needs to be done in Sri Lanka, Obama Administration’s point man for South Asia today said the US would continue to press for the "political reconciliation" with the ethnic Tamil community.
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake said there has been an improvement in access to the internally displaced persons after the end of the war between the Tamil Tigers and Lankan security forces.
"Overall access has improved since the immediate aftermath of the fighting, but more progress is needed," he said in his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.
"We continue to press the Sri Lankan government to grant humanitarian relief organisations full and unfettered access to the internally displaced persons residing in camps in the north, and to engage in political reconciliation with Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority," Blake said.
"The actions the Sri Lankan government takes now, in the aftermath of the war, with respect to both humanitarian relief and political inclusions for minorities, will be important to securing an end to terrorism and a lasting peace," he added.
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