President Ranil Wickremesinghe said he appreciates Japan’s leadership in international efforts to restructure his country’s external debt.
In an interview with NHK of Japan last night, President Wickremesinghe said everyone is comfortable with Japan serving as the co-chair of a new international framework launched in April this year aimed at resolving Sri Lanka’s debt crisis.
Japan regards Sri Lanka as an important partner in its effort to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific. China also considers Sri Lanka as a partner in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), now renamed the Global Development Initiative (GDI).
In 2017, the management of a port in the south of the country was handed over to a Chinese firm on a 99-year lease after debt was not repaid. President Wickremesinghe said China unfortunately lacks agencies like the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to handle debt issues.
He stressed that the Sri Lankan Government controls security of the Port operated by a Chinese company in Hambantota. He noted that there have been port calls there by Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force (MSDF) vessels. (NHK)