Japan, India and France have announced a common platform for talks among bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring of Sri Lanka's debt. The move is expected to serve as a model for solving the debt woes of middle-income economies.<br />'' <br />''Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a briefing that to be able to launch this negotiation process with such a broad-based group of creditors is a historical outcome.  He said this committee is open to all creditors.<br />'' <br />''French Director General of the Treasury Emmanuel Moulin told the briefing that the group is ready to hold the first round of talks as soon as possible.<br />'' <br />''The island nation of 22 million people last month secured a 2.9 billion dollar programme from the International Monetary Fund to tackle its huge debt burden. But the middle-income economy could not apply for relief under the G-20's common framework for debt treatments, which targets only low-income countries.  This has put the onus on major economies to come up with an alternative scheme, leading to the creation of the new platform.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Sri Lanka owes 7.1 billion dollar to bilateral creditors, with 3 billion dollar owed to China, followed by 2.4 billion dollar to the Paris Club and 1.6 billion dollar to India, according to official data from Sri Lankan government.</span><br />