On Tuesday, Sri Lankan high commissioner Milinda Moragoda met with external affairs minister S Jaishankar to discuss the country’s efforts to get a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mr Jaishankar mentioned on Twitter, “A useful meeting with @MilindaMoragoda, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka. Reviewed my recent visit to Sri Lanka and taking the understandings forward.” This meeting follows the previous visit of minister Jaishankar to Colombo, where he travelled to express his support for Sri Lanka’s economic distress.
Shortly after India became the first creditor of Sri Lanka to submit financial assurances to the IMF in favour of the nation’s debt restructuring scheme, the conference took place shortly afterwards. The People’s Republic of China, India, and Japan are the three primary financial lenders to the island nation. In order to assist Sri Lanka in overcoming its most severe economic crisis, India extended a financial aid package worth more than $4 billion the previous year.
The recent meeting is an effort to restore the bilateral relationship between the two countries following the Chinese surveillance vessel calling at the port of the Hambantota incident, which sparked tensions between India and Sri Lanka.
According to a statement that the Sri Lankan high commission issued, Moragoda met with the external affairs minister to examine the current state of relations between Sri Lanka and India and to discuss the “path forward and follow-up action” that developed as a result of Jaishankar’s recent visit to Colombo. The meeting is held to assess the current relations between Sri Lanka and India.
On January 20, Jaishankar returned home after completing his journey across Sri Lanka. He participated in official talks with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunewardena, and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry during his trip.
The meeting was also attended by the external affairs ministry’s joint secretary for the Indian Ocean region, Puneet Agrawal, and the Sri Lankan deputy high commissioner, Niluka Kadurugamuwa.