Colombo, 9 Jul: India has reiterated its willingness to play \u201ca constructive role\u201d in supporting Sri Lanka\u2019s efforts for recovery from the worst economic crisis. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Construction, Power and Energy Expo 2023 in Colombo on Friday, India\u2019s Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob said that recent developments in India-Sri Lanka ties have strengthened the friendship and all-around cooperation between the two countries.
\n\u201cWe were the first creditor nation in January this year to convey the financing assurances needed to kick start the IMF process. India will continue to play a constructive role as a Co-Chair of the Creditors Committee along with Japan and the Paris Club,\u201d he said.
\nIndia in January this year became the first country to hand over its letter of support for financing and debt restructuring of Sri Lanka to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
\nIn May this year, 17 countries that have extended loans to Sri Lanka formed an official creditor committee\u2019 co-chaired by India, Japan, and France, to discuss Sri Lanka\u2019s request for debt treatment.
\nParis Club is a group of officials from major creditor countries whose role is to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries.
\nJacob said India\u2019s financial and humanitarian support worth USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka is far in excess of the total anticipated Extended Fund Facility of the IMF.
\nSri Lanka was hit by a catastrophic financial crisis in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, due to a severe paucity of foreign exchange reserves.
\nAs the country struggled, locked in the throes of the crisis, India extended multi-pronged assistance of about USD 4 billion to it last year, through multiple credit lines and currency support, in line with India\u2019s \u2018Neighbourhood First\u2019 policy.
\n\u201cThe past three years have demonstrated the close links between the people of India and Sri Lanka,\u201d Jacob said.
\nJacob said the successful visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Sri Lanka in January this year opened up avenues for further cooperation through investment in infrastructure, manufacturing and promoting connectivity.
\n\u201cIndia was Sri Lanka\u2019s largest trading partner in 2022. Sri Lanka\u2019s exports to India have also grown. The use of Rupees for trade settlement is further helping Sri Lanka\u2019s economy. These are concrete steps to help Sri Lanka\u2019s economic recovery and growth,\u201d he noted.
\nHe noted that India was once again the largest source of tourists for Sri Lanka last year with over 100,000 tourists. (PTI)
\n\u201cAround one in every five to six tourists in Sri Lanka is an Indian\u201d.
\nHe hailed the resumption of Chennai-Jaffna flights as another step in bringing the people of the two countries closer.
\n\u201cFerry services between the two countries will bolster this further. Connectivity is a force multiplier in this context,\u201d he added. PTI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colombo, 9 Jul: India has reiterated its willingness to play \u201ca constructive role\u201d in supporting Sri Lanka\u2019s efforts for recovery from the worst economic crisis. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Construction, Power and Energy Expo 2023 in Colombo on Friday, India\u2019s Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob said that recent developments in India-Sri Lanka […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-220026","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-national"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}