US Secretary of State Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Sri Lankan Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardena have discussed the Millennium Challenge Compact. Pompeo and Gunawardena talked over the phone yesterday June 29 and among the subjects covered was the controversial MCC agreement the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna bitterly opposed during the last elections.
 
The party seems to be following the same line for the upcoming Parliamentary General Election with a committee appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa saying the deal will interfere with the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan Parliament.

The committee also reported that the situation of countries which have signed similar deals have become “tragic.”

The release also said that “US-Sri Lanka cooperation in COVID response-supply of PPEs to the US, donation of ventilators to Sri Lanka and COVID related bilateral assistance amounting to US$ 5.8 million- economic recovery initiatives, defence and security matters, counter-terrorism and international economic cooperation featured in the discussions.”

Gunawardena briefed his US counterpart on the forthcoming Parliamentary elections and thanked the US for the support extended to the reconciliation and resettlement processes in Sri Lanka.

He conveyed Sri Lanka’s felicitations for the forthcoming US Independence Day on 4th of July. (Colombo, June 30 2020)

Reported by Arjuna Ranawana

https://economynext.com/pompeo-and-dinesh-talk-about-millennium-challenge-compact-deal-ministry-71587/