Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe, president of Sri Lanka, will visit India next month and will have a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 21. Following the removal of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa during a severe economic crisis in the nation last year, this will be Wickremesinghe’s first trip to India as president.
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According to sources present in the President’s office and the Sri Lankan administration, the Delhi visit would last for two to three days. Additionally, the president of Sri Lanka wants to meet with S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, Nirmala Sitharaman, the minister of finance, and Ajit Doval, the national security adviser.
Sources claim that Wickremesinghe’s cabinet met on Monday and decided to go to India officially. One of the select few who will join the Sri Lankan President is Cabinet Minister Jeevan Thondaman. According to a report by the Sri Lankan publication Daily Mirror, the two nations may sign a grid connectivity agreement before the Sri Lankan President visits New Delhi.
Sri Lankan President to visit France this month
India will be Wickremesinghe’s sixth foreign trip since taking office in July last year. Wickremesinghe has visited the UK, Philippines, Egypt, Singapore, and Japan so far. Later this month, he will visit France.
The Sri Lankan President urged for open communication between Japan, China, India, and the ASEAN countries while in attendance at Nikkei’s Future of Asia conference in Tokyo last month.
Among the major foreign lenders to Sri Lanka are China, India, and Japan. India has been crucial ever since the island nation fell into trouble last year following its foreign currency reserves ran out.
India assisted Sri Lanka more than IMF: Jaishankar
S. Jaishankar, the foreign minister of India, has asserted that India has supported the island nation more than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has.
Jaishankar at an event in Anant National University said, “What we have done for Sri Lanka is bigger than what the IMF has done for Sri Lanka. If any of you have visited Sri Lanka recently, then you will note the popular perception that has accrued from this action.”
Sri Lanka is now in debt restructuring discussions after receiving a $2.9 billion bailout from the IMF earlier this year.
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