Indo - Lanka talks on rescheduling debt begin via video conferencing

India and Sri Lanka are now working out a mutual arrangement on rescheduling of bilateral debt repayment by the island nation.
The constructive discussion between both sides took place in a cordial and positive atmosphere, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a media release on Friday.
The Indian delegation comprising senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the EXIM Bank interacted with representatives from the Department of External Resources of Sri Lanka through a video conference.
This was a result of the telephone conversations between the leaders of India and Sri Lanka in May 2020 and Indian High Commissioner’s courtesy call on the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Building on the mutual priorities identified during these conversations, the High Commission of India engaged with the Government to facilitate the initiation of discussions between the two sides on rescheduling of bilateral debt repayment by Sri Lanka, the release said.
The next round of technical discussions between the two sides on rescheduling of debt repayment is expected to be held soon.
The High Commission noted that it will continue to work towards coordinating and facilitating such engagement as a part of India’s overall commitment to work with Sri Lanka to counter and mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It may be recalled that both sides had discussed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its likely health and economic impacts in the region during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s telephone conversations with President Rajapaksa on May 23, 2020 and with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 27, 2020, the High Commission said.
During these conversations, Prime Minister Modi had assured that India would continue to provide all possible support to Sri Lanka for mitigating the effects of the pandemic. (BS)