Macron meets Wickremesinghe on historic Sri Lanka visit.
During his historic visit to Sri Lanka, French President Macron engages in conversation with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. France, which ranks as Sri Lanka’s fourth-largest creditor, has made a commitment to work with the country to restructure its debt in order to assist it in emerging from the current economic crisis.
COLOMBO: During a historic visit to Sri Lanka’s capital, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to back the island country’s debt restructuring wholeheartedly and talked about measures to improve bilateral ties with Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The first-ever visit by a French president to Sri Lanka happened at the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Macron spent more than two hours in Colombo on Friday after a five-day trip to the Pacific islands of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Wickremesinghe received Macron at the airport.
He was the first French President to travel to Sri Lanka.
According to a statement released on Saturday by the President’s Media Division, Wickremesinghe and Macron had “friendly and productive” bilateral talks to advance and strengthen the current ties between Sri Lanka and France.
The ongoing debt restructuring procedure in Sri Lanka came up in the conversations.
Macron reiterated France’s commitment and desire to assist Sri Lanka in its economic recovery.
France, Colombo’s fourth-largest creditor, promised to support the debt restructuring effort and work towards a successful conclusion for the nation, according to the statement.
Due to a serious lack of foreign exchange reserves, Sri Lanka experienced a catastrophic financial crisis in 2022—the worst since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
“Sri Lanka and France are two countries in the Indian Ocean that share the same vision for the Indo-Pacific region: an open, inclusive, and prosperous region. After the meeting, Macron tweeted, “We reaffirmed it in Colombo: strong as in our 75 years of diplomatic relations, we would launch a new chapter of our partnership.
In addition to conveying Sri Lanka’s consent to join the Paris Agenda for the People and the Planet and demonstrating interest in the Indian Ocean Commission, which France actively engages in, Wickremesinghe also emphasised the island nation’s commitment to international efforts for a sustainable future.
He also praised France’s important contributions to international affairs, particularly in the areas of global debt restructuring, climate change mitigation, and Indo-Pacific issues.
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