NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has thanked India and Japan for coming forward to help in reviving his country’s ailing economy.
"I am grateful for the positive response from India and Japan on the proposal made for the Quad members to take the lead in setting up a foreign aid consortium to assist Sri Lanka," PM Ranil said.
On the sidelines of the recently concluded Quad Summit in Tokyo, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida discussed the situation in Sri Lanka and confirmed that they would cooperate with each other in light of the current economic situation which had led to a humanitarian crisis.
They agreed to work together to develop the Indo Pacific Economic Framework into an inclusive framework that would bring substantive benefits to the region.
Meanwhile, PM Ranil also spoke with India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, thanking her for India’s ongoing support and discussing ways and means to ease the economic crisis plaguing the island nation.
"I had a conversation with India’s FM Nirmala Sitharaman and I expressed our appreciation of the support India has been extending to us during this difficult time. I look forward to strengthening our ties further," PM Ranil added.
In line with India’s ongoing commitment to the people of Sri Lanka, India’s acting High Commissioner in Colombo Vinod K Jacob handed over a donation of more than 25 tons of medical supplies valued at SLR 260 million to their health minister Keheliya Rambukwella.
"Humanitarian supplies which came on board INS Gharial also included kerosene for use by fishermen in Sri Lanka. These supplies will be distributed among the beneficiaries in the coming days," said the Indian High Commission in Colombo.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda also met with Sitharaman to discuss the way forward in coming out of the economic crisis. Moragoda thanked India’s FM for the line of credit that salavaged Sri Lanka from its deep crisis and also for extending the balance of payment support and for putting in a word to the IMF in Washington to bail out their island nation.
Amongst other things, Sri Lanka is staring at a food shortage and also reeling under a shortage of fertilisers for its sowing season. PM Ranil has said that they need an immediate inflow of $600 million just to ensure fertiliser supply.
The road to recovery for Sri Lanka is a long and arduous one. But with support from neighbours like India, they are optimistic of not sinking any further.