US Embassy in Colombo only mission with private beach – President

The United States Embassy is the only Embassy with a private beach, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said recently while attending the official opening of the new building of the United States Embassy in Colombo.

“38 years ago, I stood in another building next to this witnessing President Jayewardene open the new US Chancellor building. The earlier building was housed in the residence, which one time belonged to my great-grandmother, Helena Wijewardena, before the Americans purchased the sea. I think that’s the only private beach in Sri Lanka and that is the only Embassy which has a private beach, which I am sure will be really the cause of joy for your marine scene,” he said.

The President said that it was 74 years ago that the two countries started diplomatic relations. 2023 will mark the 75th anniversary of our independence as well as our relations with the US.

“But our contact with the US goes back far longer than that. Over 200 years ago, when missionaries arrived here in Jaffna to open schools, I always wondered how those missionaries got to Jaffna with the British while burning the White House in Washington. But I must thank them because they started one of the first hospitals in Sri Lanka. The green hospital, where they did yeoman service in Jaffna during wartime, was not only a Christian missionary. We all know of Col. Alcott, and the services he has done and there are many sons who stand here who come from the school he started, Ananda College. Our relationship was not only in trade, not merely education, not merely religion, it was also military,” he said.

The President added that he met US President Joe Biden when he was a senator and he met Biden again in 2017, on a unique occasion we were both listening to a speech by President Xi.

“I must thank President Biden for the help he has given us in this critical moment. We appreciate it and I must say, without your help, we will not be having a successful “Maha Season.” Thank you. So, what this building symbolizes, in a way, is the coming together, the brick-and-mortar human relationship which has held us all together. This new building also is, in a way, a symbol of a new era in which the relationship has to develop. When the Indian Ocean is getting more attention, is coming under attention and the world itself is changing we are seeing from last year onwards how fast the geopolitics is changing and in this world that we will have to carry out our new relationships and we have worked together for so long, I have no doubt that we will carry on respecting each other and working closely to each other to uphold the peace and democracy,” he said.

Wickremesinghe added that the US has supported Sri Lanka in every difficult situation and measures have been taken to strengthen the 74-year-old ties between the two countries, and that the support rendered by the United States whenever Sri Lanka was in difficulty would never be forgotten.

Expressing his views on the diplomatic relations and mutual understanding between the United States and Sri Lanka during the war, the President recalled the support given by the United States under the leadership of George Bush in 2001 during his tenure as the Prime Minister.

The President also recalled the support provided by the US government to recover from the Tsunami disaster in 2004 and said that if not for the intervention of the US, led by President Joe Biden, Sri Lanka would not have been able to farm successfully during the Maha Season.

President Wickremesinghe also expressed his appreciation for the support rendered by the United States for the preparation of the first monetary law and the legal system for the establishment of the Central Bank.

He added that Sri Lanka and the United States will work as close friends in the future as well.  The United States and Sri Lanka, as inseparable partners, will forge ahead with respect and confidence in each other to preserve peace and democracy.