Mr. Macron arrived in Sri Lanka on July 28 night, following his trip to the South Pacific region, to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. He held talks with President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

France, Japan and India have formed a common platform for the restructuring of Sri Lanka’s external debts. However, Sri Lanka is in touch with China, which is the largest bilateral creditor for a bilateral arrangement in rescheduling Sri Lanka’s debt repayment to its banks.

A top government source said the French President pledged to remain engaged with China on Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring to agree on a common mechanism with all the creditors instead of a bilateral arrangement with any individual creditor.

In addition to debt restructuring, he held discussions with his Sri Lankan counterpart on an open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

The French leader also pledged support for the establishment of an international maritime training institute in Sri Lanka. He also agreed to support new bilateral projects. (Kelum Bandara)