Voting begins in Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election
Voting in Sri Lanka's parliamentary poll started on Thursday to elect 225 members to the Parliament with President Anura Kumara Dissanyake seeking a majority.
In order to mitigate some of the economic difficulties faced by the people of Sri Lanka, India has extended support of about USD 2.5 billion in the past three months, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.
As a neighbour and close friend, India has been keenly following the evolving economic situation and other developments in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told the press in the weekly news briefing here.
The MEA spokesperson said that this includes credit facilities for fuel and food. Since mid-March, over 270,000 metric tonnes of Diesel and Petrol have been delivered to Sri Lanka. In addition, around 40,000 tonnes of rice have been supplied under the recently extended USD 1 billion credit facility to Sri Lanka.
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“As you are aware, the relationship between India and Sri Lanka is rooted in the shared civilizational values and aspirations of our two peoples. Our cooperation, based on commonality and interests, has been strengthened in recent months. We see the recent developments in this perspective and stand ready to continue working with Sri Lanka for rapid post-COVID economic recovery in line with India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ Policy,” the MEA spokesperson added.
Sri Lanka has been going through a severe economic crisis. The Sri Lankan rupee is fast depreciating against the dollar. The country is also short on foreign exchange which is resulting in power cuts, runaway inflation and a shortage of eatables. Emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka following anti-government protests which turned violent.
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