(MENAFN- The Peninsula) US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold talks with Sri Lanka's new President Maithripala Sirisena Saturday on a visit that caps the island's transformation from diplomatic pariah to a "beacon of democracy".
Kerry's one-day visit will enable the top US diplomat to give the seal of approval to the change of regime after Sirisena ousted the hardline incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse in January's presidential polls.
During Rajapakse's rule, Washington was close to slapping sanctions on Colombo for refusing to allow investigations into claims of mass killings and rights abuses at the end of Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist war.
As Sri Lanka's relations with the West and regional powerhouse India declined, Rajapakse turned increasingly to Beijing with Chinese-funded investments projects springing up across Sri Lanka.
Since coming to power, Sirisena has tried to reset the diplomatic balance, choosing New Delhi for his first foreign visit and offering the hand of friendship to other key players who fell out with his predecessor.
Political analyst Victor Ivan said Sirisena realised it was vital for Sri Lanka to have better relations with the West as it had become dangerously dependent on China - both for loans and diplomatic cover.
"Mahinda thought he could depend on China and China alone," Ivan, an editor at the Ravaya weekly newspaper told AFP. "That was a big mistake."
A senior State Department official said there had already been a change in the "tenor and tone" of Sri Lanka's dealings with the United Nations which initiated its own investigation into war crimes last year after Rajapakse refused a domestic inquiry.
"We can foresee a future where we have a very good and mutually helpful relationship with a country that can be kind of a real beacon of democracy," he added on condition of anonymity.
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