Mike Pompeo to visit Sri Lanka

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives this month, a senior official here said on Tuesday, as America seeks to balance China's growing influence in the region.

Pompeo will hold talks in Colombo on October 28, cabinet spokesman and minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Rambukwella said Pompeo's visit will focus on the travel bubble arrangement in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The foreign ministry officials said the US Secretary of State will travel to the Maldives after Sri Lanka.

Pompeo's visit comes two weeks after a high-powered Chinese delegation led by ruling Communist Party Politburo member Yang Jiechi visited Colombo.

China is one of the biggest investors in various infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka. But there has been criticism, both locally and internationally, and growing concerns that China has lured Sri Lanka into a debt trap.

The previous Maithripala Sirisena government had entered into a 99-year lease with China in 2017 as a settlement of its debt by way of equity.

Sri Lanka's economy, especially the tourism sector, has been hit hard since last year - initially by the Easter Sunday attacks, which killed over 250 people and later by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Reserve Bank of India in July this year signed necessary documents for extending a USD 400 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka to boost the nation's draining foreign exchange reserves due to the coronavirus pandemic. The currency swap arrangement will remain available till November 2022.