President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s official visit to France, which was scheduled to take place this month, has reportedly been postponed until the end of the year.
The decision is said to have been taken due to domestic developments, including the violent incident at Negombo Prison.
French authorities have been informed of the postponement, while Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath said the President would visit France at a later date this year and that a new date had been requested for the visit.
The invitation was extended during a meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit held in New Delhi, India, last February.
It is also reported that discussions had been planned during the visit on securing France’s support for Sri Lanka to continue benefiting from the European Union’s GSP+ trade concession scheme.
The current GSP+ scheme expires
