"Japan, India, France unite for Sri Lanka debt negotiations, leaving out China"

Japan, India, and France have announced a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka's debt, a move they hope would serve as a model for solving the debt woes of middle-income economies. It remains uncertain whether Sri Lanka's biggest bilateral creditor - China - will join the initiative launched by Japan. The island nation of 22 million people last month secured a $2.9 billion programme from the International Monetary Fund to tackle its huge debt burden.