President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized the importance of strengthening economic cooperation and regional integration from Japan to India, with a special focus on deepening ties with India.
The President made these remarks while addressing the Head of State Session of the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit, held under the theme “An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future.”
Speaking from the President’s House in Anuradhapura virtually yesterday (17), President Wickremesinghe highlighted Sri Lanka’s strategic commitment to expanding economic partnerships across Asia, particularly through the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
President Wickremesinghe further elaborated,
“Your Excellencies, Sri Lanka thanks India for hosting the third virtual seminar on Voices of the Global South. This series enables us to engage with each other to understand our different viewpoints while also helping us arrive at a common stance on many issues confronting the South. We have reached a point where the West can no longer dominate global leadership and, furthermore, has become part of the problem. Ukraine and Gaza are prime examples, which I will not address as they have already been discussed by previous speakers. In this context, we must appreciate India’s efforts to strengthen the Global South.
