Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday that his country will support India and Japan’s aspirations for permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council.
President Wickremesinghe is in Japan today attending the official funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
According to a news statement from the President’s office, Wickremesinghe “appreciated Japan’s assistance offered to Sri Lanka on the world scene and indicated the government’s commitment to back both Japan’s and India’s aim to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.”
India has been in the vanguard of years-long attempts to restructure the Security Council, claiming that it rightfully deserves to be a permanent member of the UN body, which in Its existing configuration does not reflect twenty-first-century geopolitical realities.
Will India be a matter of concern for existing countries?
The UN Security Council now consists of five permanent members and ten non-permanent member nations elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a two-year tenure.
The United Kingdom, Russia, France, China, and the United States are the five permanent members, and they have veto power over any substantive resolution. There is rising pressure to expand the number of permanent members to reflect current global realities.
India is now halfway through its two-year term as an elected non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. India’s term on the Council will expire in December when it will simultaneously serve as President of the influential UN body for the month.
In his presentation to the General Debate of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized that India is willing to take on additional responsibilities.
The proposal for reformed multilateralism, with Security Council reform at its center, has widespread support among UN members, he added.
Staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka in exchange for debt restructuring
“This is due to the widespread consensus that modern architecture is outdated and ineffective. It is also seen as extremely unjust to deprive entire continents and regions of a voice in a forum that decides their fate “According to Jaishankar.
Meanwhile, President Wickremesinghe’s administration stated that Japan has shown readiness to take the lead in Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring, which is critical for the island’s effort to get an IMF rescue facility.
The IMF had stated its willingness to enter into a staff-level agreement with Sri Lanka in exchange for debt restructuring. Due to the FX crisis, Sri Lanka declared its foreign debt default in mid-April. The government owes $51 billion in foreign debt, $28 billion of which must be paid by 2027.
Wickremesinghe has shown a desire to restart Japanese projects in Sri Lanka.
The IMF does not lend to nations with unsustainable debt, hence Sri Lanka must undergo an upfront comprehensive debt treatment.
Along with China and the Asian Development Bank, India and Japan are important creditors to Sri Lanka (ADB). Sri Lanka expects Japan to convene a debt-restructuring meeting on its behalf.
Officials claimed Wickremesinghe has also shown a desire to restart stalled Japanese projects in Sri Lanka.
Author: Divyanshu Yadav
Leave a Reply