India, Japan and France announce launch of Sri Lanka's debt restructuring negotiations

New Delhi: India, Japan and France on Friday announced the launch of the debt restructuring negotiation process on Sri Lanka.

Participating in a high-level event on Sri Lankan debt issues on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund (IMF) - World Bank (WB) Spring Meetings in Washington, the three co-chairs India, Japan, and France agreed to lead coordinated debt restructuring of the island nation.

The purpose of the event was to demonstrate the multilateral cooperation regarding the debt restructuring process among the creditors, together with Sri Lanka.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who participated in the event, expressed India's commitment to support Sri Lanka in dealing with its current economic crisis.

She emphasised that a collaboration among creditors is important to ensure transparency and equality in treatment of all creditors in the debt restructuring discussions.

Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi, Emmanuel Moulin, director general of the treasury of France and Sri Lanka's state finance minister Shehan Semasinghe, were present in the meeting.

Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe and Finance Minister participated virtually in the event.