Meeting his counterpart in Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe, French President Macron discusses bilateral relations

During a historic visit to Colombo, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to back the island country’s debt restructuring wholeheartedly and spoke about measures to improve bilateral ties with his Sri Lankan counterpart 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 go 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 current 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 toward a successful conclusion for the nation, according to the statement.

Due to a serious lack of foreign currency reserves, Sri Lanka experienced an unexpected financial crisis in 2022 that was the worst since it gained 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 wealthy region. After the meeting, Macron tweeted, “We reaffirmed it in Colombo: strong as in our 75 years of diplomatic ties, we would launch a new chapter of our alliance.

The two presidents met for more than an hour, during which time they discussed ways to improve their collaboration in a number of areas, including politics, business, tourism, the environment, sustainable development, and marine operations.

According to the statement, a number of particular areas for further cooperation were identified as part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

According to the announcement, “These areas of cooperation included the establishment of a school for maritime safety and security, the opening of a permanent office for the French Agency for Development (AFD) in Sri Lanka, the beginning of high-level diplomatic dialogues, cooperation in the education sector, and the augmentation of efforts to combat human trafficking in the maritime safety and security sector.”

Both presidents also discussed regional and multilateral objectives in the present international environment. During Sri Lanka’s future presidency of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), of which France is a member, Macron stated a strong desire to work with Sri Lanka.

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 emphasized the island nation’s commitment to international efforts for a sustainable future.

He also praised France’s important contributions to international affairs, notably in the areas of global debt restructuring, climate change mitigation, and Indo-Pacific issues.

During the heads of state sessions of the meeting for a New Global Financing Pact in June, Wickremesinghe and Macron met in Paris.

In the meanwhile, Wickremesinghe was visited by Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa on Saturday after arriving Friday night for a two-day trip.