New Delhi, 07 April: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that as a neighbour and close friend, India is closely monitoring the changing economic and other developments in Sri Lanka. India stands ready to work expeditiously for post-Covid economic recovery with Sri Lanka in line with the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said that India has extended support of around US$ 2.5 billion in the last three months to ease some of the economic difficulties faced by the people of Sri Lanka. This includes credit facilities for fuel and food. More than 2 lakh 70 thousand metric tonnes of diesel and petrol have been delivered to Sri Lanka since mid-March. Apart from this, about 40 thousand tonnes of rice has been supplied to Sri Lanka under the recently extended one billion US dollar line of credit.
It is noteworthy that Sri Lanka’s economy based on tourism has been passing through a very challenging period in recent times. Due to this there is also a political upheaval going on there.
