Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, G.L. Peiris, met with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister, Dr A.K. Abdul Momen, in Dhaka today and expressed his gratitude to the country for its support at "international fora especially the Human Rights Council and the CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group)".
In March, Bangladesh voted against UN Resolution 46/1 which maintained the need to collect and preserve evidence that may be used in future war crimes tribunals. Momen would later defend the vote asserting that the mandate was "politically motivated" and alledging that “Sri Lanka has done its own investigation”.
During the visit, the ministers discussed strengthening bilateral relations including maritime and security relations within the framework of the Indian Ocean Rim Association. On tourism, both ministers discussed the need for direct connectivity between Colombo and Dhaka with Momen noting the interest of a private Bangladesh airline in operating flights to Colombo.
Peiris further stressed Sri Lanka's interest in a preferential trading agreement with Bangladesh and noted that technical negotiations have commenced and are ongoing. Sri Lanka's turn to Bangladesh comes as the island faces increased economic strain with average monthly food prices rising 63% in the past month.
Despite Sri Lanka's dire economic situation, government Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara has sworn against turning to the US-backed International Monetary Fund stating:
“Even if we die, we will not seek assistance from the IMF. This is the final thing I have to say. Even if this Government, our Government gets destroyed, we are not prepared to reach out to the IMF and destroy the lives of our people”.
Earlier this year a Bloomberg model reported that Sri Lanka’s default probability was the highest in Asia with the organisation estimating a 27.9% chance of one-year default. Sri Lanka owes at least $2.5 billion in debt over the next 12 months.
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