Indian envoy holds talks with Lanka PM

Colombo, September 23

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay has called on Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and discussed wide-ranging bilateral issues, including investments, shared heritage and capacity-building in the crisis-hit island nation.

India has been the biggest provider of aid this year to its southern neighbour, which is fighting its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades and struggling to pay for imports.

The Indian High Commission held the first round of talks with the Sri Lankan Government on restructuring the bilateral official debt of the island nation. The discussions symbolise India’s support to early conclusion and approval of a suitable IMF Programme for Sri Lanka, for which financing assurances from creditors to make Sri Lanka’s debt sustainable are required, it had said in a statement after the talks.“ High Commissioner called on PM DCR Gunawardena. Discussed bilateral issues, including investments, shared heritage and capacity-building,” the Indian High Commission tweeted.