Sri Lanka, Feb. 20 -- Sri Lanka is gaining in importance in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region. This is evident in the flurry of visits by senior functionaries of the US, Israel, and Iran to canvass support for their stand on key issues and also to firm up political and economic ties with Sri Lanka, which is strategically located in the Indian Ocean. Also of importance in this context are some recent remarks on Sri Lanka by the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Donald Lu. Following the visit of the Israeli Minister of Transport, Miri Regev, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahein, came calling.

The US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Liz Allen, was already in Sri Lanka when t...