Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Gunawardena of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka by Foreign Minister Hayashi

On July 29, commencing at 2:20 p.m. (local time; 5:50 p.m. JST) for approximately 35 minutes, Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who is visiting the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, paid a courtesy call on Hon. Mr. Dinesh Gunawardena, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The overview is as follows.
 
1. At the outset, Minister Hayashi welcomed the increasing exchanges of dignitaries between Sri Lanka and Japan since the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations last year, including President Wickremesinghe's two visits to Japan, and stated that Sri Lanka is located at a strategic juncture along the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean and is an important partner in realizing a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)". Prime Minister Gunawardena stated that Sri Lanka and Japan have a long history of friendly diplomatic relations and expressed his gratitude for Japan’s longstanding economic cooperation.

2. The two sides confirmed the importance of a transparent and comparable debt restructuring that involves all creditor countries, while looking forward to further progress in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process. Prime Minister Gunawardena expressed his appreciation for Japan's contribution to the discussions on debt restructuring.

3. Minister Hayashi welcomed the signing ceremony of the Exchange of Notes for the Japanese Grant Aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS) Program that was held in the presence of himself and Prime Minister Gunawardena prior to the courtesy call, and both expressed their expectations for further strengthening bilateral relations.

4. Minister Hayashi and Prime Minister Gunawardena agreed to further enhance bilateral relations in the future.