(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Wednesday held a meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was on a visit to Japan to attend the State Funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Kishida conveyed his gratitude to President Wickremesinghe’s participation in the State Funeral, the Embassy of Japan said in a statement.
President Wickremesinghe has said that he is still in shock, recalling that he had had a close conversation with former Prime Minister ABE when he served as Prime Minister, and expressed his sincere condolences for his demise.
Prime Minister KISHIDA stated that, in order to highlight the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Sri Lanka, Japan is willing to further strengthen the bilateral relations with Sri Lanka to implement Japan’s vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP).
Prime Minister KISHIDA also mentioned that Japan is providing humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka to address its current humanitarian situation, as Sri Lanka is a long-standing friend of Japan.
As Prime Minister KISHIDA pointed out the importance of transparent and fair development finance in compliance with international rules and standards, both Prime Minister KISHIDA and President Wickremesinghe shared the common understanding of the importance of debt restructuring in Sri Lanka in a transparent and comparable manner with the participation of all creditor countries.
The two leaders also exchanged views on the regional situation and shared the understanding that unilateral changes of the status quo by force is intolerable.
