India’s High Commissioner Gopal Baglay yesterday called on Sri Lanka’s Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and assured him of India’s continued support for the country, which is going through a terrible time due to political upheaval and economic turmoil. This conversation between the two leaders took place a day after Speaker Abeywardena accepted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation.
Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, recently revealed that US $3.8 billion had been pledged Sri Lanka. India was the first country to lend a helping hand to Sri Lanka when its economy collapsed. The situation became worse when protests against the government began due to outrage among the citizens.
Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera recently said that so far India is the only country that has given a credit line, even as Sri Lanka is facing a severe shortage of essential commodities like fuel, and cooking gas, and even food products. He also urged other countries to come forward to help. He said they had requested oil and other products from other countries as well. Furthermore, he also said that they were in talks with Russia and had given their requirements.
