“. The U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. personnel are not required to pay any similar taxes or fees inside Sri Lanka. The U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. personnel are authorized to import, export, and use in Sri Lanka any personal property, equipment, accessories, materials, technology, training, or services related to activities under this Agreement. . They are exempt from inspection in Sri Lanka. However, Sri Lankans remain skeptical. Part of the problem lies in the fact that there is “little information in the public” about the “specifics” of the agreements. A Forces Agreement (SOFA) is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation that deploys armed forces in that country. SOFAs are often part of a comprehensive security agreement with other types of military agreements. A SOFA is not a safety device; it establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel who set up in a host country to support the strengthening of security measures.
[1] Under international law, a status-of-force agreement differs from military occupation. These remarks are a bit inaccurate. According to the proposed agreement, “Sri Lanka accepts as valid all professional licenses issued by the United States, its political subdivisions or the states… Dayasiri Jayasekera said in January in Parliament. “This means that they will not be checked or verified by Sri Lankan law enforcement officers, not even by a traffic officer,” the SLFP MP stressed. The proposed SOFA aims to require the abandonment of fees, taxes, customs duties, etc., for the visit of U.S. personnel and to allow them to enter Sri Lanka without passports, rather than with U.S. identity documents. There is nothing “reciprocal” about all this.
An agreement on visiting forces is similar to an agreement on the status of troops, except that the former only temporarily cover troops that are not stationed there. One of them was the provision that requested an exemption from criminal justice under Sri Lankan law for the visit of U.S. personnel during their visit to Sri Lanka. Another was a clause that would give effect to the agreement through an “exchange of notes.” Wickremesinghe told parliament on Wednesday that the proposed SOFA was not a military pact, but only an agreement defining the rights and privileges that the US military would enjoy if they were in the country. SOFA Doesy, currently under negotiation, is attempting to update an agreement reached between the United States and Sri Lanka in 1995. The 1995 document also contained an immunity clause. A high-level source, familiar with the discussions, explained why this provision could no longer be supported and explained that this was due to the fact that Sri Lanka had passed the Diplomatic Privileges Act No. 9 of 1996. Since its entry into force, any granting of diplomatic privileges and immunities must be published in the Official Journal and submitted to Parliament.
In addition, the staff categories of the proposed new SOFA have expanded. “In 1995, there was nothing called the `contractor`, but this agreement covers them too,” he said.