In the attempt to rescue its neighbour (Sri Lanka) from the ongoing crisis, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reached Colombo to meet Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
Jaishankar is scheduled to meet other notable leaders from the opposition, Muslim and Tamil political parties; this meet is ahead of his presence at the BIMSTEC meet.
On Monday Jaishankar met with the Sri Lankan Leadership including, Basil Rajapaksa, Foreign Minister GL Peiris. Sri Lanka is amidst an economic crisis, and India has recently injected $2.4 billion to support Sri Lanka reassuring its neighbour’s first policy.
Arrived in Colombo for bilateral visit and BIMSTEC meeting.
Look forward to my discussions over the next two days. pic.twitter.com/kHzdcP48oY
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 27, 2022
The past couple of months witnessed India and Sri Lanka being associated at various diplomatic levels talking about how to pull Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis it is now facing. With the strict dollar crisis and continuous perils in the supply of essential goods to the major import-reliant Sri Lanka, India now faces challenges but is determined to help in Sri Lanka’s recovery.
During its crisis, Sri Lanka approached China as well as International Monetary Fund. India assured Sri Lanka time and again that will honour its promise to protect Sri Lanka during the crisis, however, certain Sri Lankan groups are in doubt with India’s involvement in its recovery, wanting key projects to be directed to Sri Lanka in its financial backup plan.
Since the start of the 2022 year in January, Sri Lanka and India have been in talks to jointly execute the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms, renewable projects in the north of Sri Lanka, as well as east. Sri Lanka also invited Adani Group to invest privately and associate in the National Thermal Power Cooperation.
