New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday offered aid to Sri Lanka after a tweet shared the plight of a hospital where surgery was suspended amid a deepening economic crisis in the country.
Jaishankar shared the tweet from his official account, which read, “Surgery scheduled at Peradeniya Hospital has been suspended due to paucity of medicines. Getting emergency surgery only (sic).
The External Affairs Minister, who replied saying that he was upset seeing the news, offered India’s help on the issue. “I am asking High Commissioner Baglay to contact and discuss how India can help,” Jaishankar tweeted.
I am saddened to see this news. I am asking to get in touch with High Commissioner Baglay and discuss how India can help.@IndiainSL #neighborhood first https://t.co/jtHlGwxCBL
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) 29 March 2022
India’s support comes amid assurances to the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government to deal with the unprecedented economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to Colombo to attend the BIMSTEC ministerial meeting later on Tuesday. Jaishankar met top Sri Lankan politicians, including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He also met the country’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
“Discussed the economic situation and India’s supportive response. We will continue to be guided by Neighborhood First,” the minister tweeted after meeting Basil, who is in touch with India to implement measures to tackle the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.
India has already provided over $1.5 billion in financial assistance to Sri Lanka, including two lines of credit to buy fuel, food and medicines. Sri Lanka is currently facing economic and energy crisis arising out of shortage of foreign exchange.
On Monday, the governor of the central bank was informed that Sri Lanka has again sought a $1.5 billion line of credit for imports of essential goods from India, according to Reuters. With a population of 22 million, the island country is struggling to finance essential imports after a 70 percent drop in foreign exchange reserves in two years, leading to currency devaluation and efforts to seek help from global lenders.