India wants to be a “friend to the world”, the voice of the global south, and will work to ensure a free, open and inclusive Indian Ocean region, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, speaking at the annual meeting of the 23-member Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) being held in Colombo, where he also raised the “dangers” of unsustainable debt. Mr. Jaishankar, who met with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, also witnessed the signing of three agreements on bilateral cooperation. The agreements include Indian assistance for housing projects, modernising schools and a new joint project between the Indian National Dairy Development Board, Amul cooperative and the Sri Lankan Cargill Group to increase milk production in Sri Lanka.
The Minister’s visit, three months after Mr. Wickremesinghe’s visit to Delhi, also comes days ahead of the Sri Lankan President’s travel to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum, where he is expected to discuss the Sri Lankan debt crisis, and Chinese infrastructural projects.
“We should be clear where the dangers are, be it in hidden agendas, in unviable projects or in unsustainable debt. Exchange of experiences, sharing of best practices, greater awareness and deeper collaboration are part of the solutions,” Mr. Jaishankar told a joint press appearance with the Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka M.U.M Ali Sabry and Bangladesh A.K. Abdul Momen, in comments he appeared to direct at China’s loans and projects to countries in the region.
