Expressing relief that the transfer of power in Sri Lanka has taken peacefully, US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday said that the island nation still has some challenges ahead.
"I talked to the new President and expressed our relief that the transfer of power took place in the way we hoped it would and I had talked to his predecessor and expressed hope that the transfer of power takes place in a peaceful process. It is good that the people of Sri Lanka have had an election that has been accepted and which has resulted in a peaceful change of power," Kerry told mediapersons here.
"There are still some real challenges in Sri Lanka. We offered immediately to engage in a dialogue, to begin work at guaranteeing that problems with respect to human rights, problems of inclusivity and challenges with respect to governance are going to be addressed. We hope that we can forge a different outcome in Sri Lanka," he added.
Kerry hailed the elections as a turning point for Sri Lanka.
"The election will become a demarcation point, a new chapter and new set of opportunities for the people of Sri Lanka who have been challenged greatly by the absence of governance," he said.
Last week, Sri Lanka went to polls, with 19 candidates contesting the elections. Maithiripala Sirisena was voted the new President, beating the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa after securing 51.28 percent of the votes cast.
Talking about his meeting with Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Kerry stated that their discussion will deal with understanding their respective nation's issues.
"With respect to the talks with the Foreign Minister of Iran, we are at a juncture where most of the issues are now getting fleshed out and understood. So, I would say that the meeting is to take stock and to provide directions to our teams hopefully be able to accelerate the process to make greater progress," he said.