With one eye on China, Japan backs Sri Lanka as a partner in the Indo-Pacific
Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says that Sri Lanka's strategic location in the Indian Ocean makes it a key partner in realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Saturday that Sri Lanka is a key partner in a Tokyo-led initiative aimed at building security and economic cooperation around the Indo-Pacific but also at countering an increasingly assertive China.
Sri Lanka, strategically located in the Indian Ocean, is integral to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, Hayashi said. He was speaking after a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ali Sabry, in the capital, Colombo.
The initiative, announced by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in March includes Japan’s assistance to emerging economies, support for maritime security, a provision of coast guard patrol boats and equipment and other infrastructure cooperation.
Last year Sri Lanka, which owed $51 billion in foreign debt, became the first Asia-Pacific country since the late 1990s to default, sparking an economic crisis.
While Japan is Sri Lanka's largest creditor, about 10% of its debt is held by China, which lent Colombo billions to build sea ports, airports and power plants as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. In March, China agreed to offer Sri Lanka a two-year moratorium on loan repayments.
Hayashi said that he conveyed expectations for further progress in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring process. He welcomed Sri Lanka’s efforts under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which includes anti-corruption measures and transparency in the policy-making process.
Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Sabry said that he, along with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, invited Japan to resume investment projects already in the pipeline and to consider fresh investments in sectors such as power generation, ports and highways, and dedicated investment zones, as well as in the green and digital economy.
Over many decades, Japan became one of Sri Lanka's key donors, carrying out key projects under concessionary terms. However, relations between the two countries came under strain after Wickremesinghe's predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa unilaterally scrapped a Japan-funded light railway project following his election in 2019.
Sri Lanka's Cabinet has already approved a proposal to restart the railway project.
Rajapaksa was forced to resign in July 2022 amid angry public protects over the country's worst economic crisis.
French leader Emmanuel Macron makes short but 'historic' stop in Sri Lanka
President Emmanuel Macron made a short stopover in Sri Lanka on Friday – the first visit by a sitting French leader to the island nation, which is undergoing a difficult economic recovery.
Issued on: 29/07/2023 
His visit consisted of a two-hour stay at Colombo airport.
After being welcomed by Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, Macron held discussions with President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
As the fourth-largest creditor to Sri Lanka, France had pledged cooperation in debt restructuring to help the island nation recover from its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
The country has received major support from the IMF, but is expected to remain bankrupt until 2026.
'New era of our partnership'
Wickremesinghe praised France’s significant role in global affairs, particularly in areas such as climate mitigation, global debt restructuring, and matters related to the Indo-Pacific region, the Sri Lankan presidency statement said.
“Sri Lanka and France are two Indian Ocean nations that share the same goal: an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific. In Colombo we confirmed it: strengthened by 75 years of diplomatic relations, we can open a new era of our partnership,” Macron said in a Twitter message after the meeting.
Earlier, the Elysée described referred to "a historic visit".
France is home to some 60,000 Sri Lankans, the majority from the Tamil ethnic minority. Paris's Tamils thrive despite defeat at home
Beijing, the country's main creditor, agreed in March to reschedule its loan repayments.
Macron made the stop on his way back from Oceania, after visiting Papua New Guinea, the French territory of New Caledonia and the sea-threatened archipelago of Vanuatu.
China and India are vying for influence in Sri Lanka.
The situation prompted Macron to warn against "new imperialism" at work in the region while he was in Vanuatu, referring in particular to China's growing influence.
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