Japan agrees to help Sri Lanka on economy, maritime security as it moves away from pro-China stance

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed Tuesday that Japan will cooperate in shoring up the South Asian country’s economy through infrastructure development and strengthening its maritime surveillance capability.

 Their talks were held at a time when Sri Lanka’s new government under President Maithripala Sirisena is shifting away from a pro-China policy and trying to strike a balance in its ties with China, Japan and India.

 Japanese officials have stressed the importance of having the Abe-Wickremesinghe talks as the president, who was re-elected in January, is reviewing the stance of Sri Lanka’s previous leadership which favored China in infrastructure development projects.

 With Sri Lanka lying in an important geographical location near Middle Eastern shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, vital for the export of the region’s oil to the east, Japan wants to cement bilateral ties and support Sri Lanka’s political and economic reforms. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, seeks more foreign investment.

 The leaders said in a joint declaration released after their talks at Abe’s office that they “decided to hold an economic policy dialogue at the senior officials’ level in the first half of 2016” to map out details of their economic cooperation.