Highlight
- Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka rejects baseless reports about Gotabaya facilitating visit
- Gotabaya fled the beleaguered island country hours before he was scheduled to resign
- President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife visited Maldives today with two bodyguards
Sri Lanka Crisis News UpdatesThe Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has rejected “baseless” and “speculative” media reports that India helped President Gotabaya Rajapaksa get out of the country.
According to reports, Gotabaya had fled the troubled island country hours before resigning from his post.
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka tweeted, “The High Commission categorically denies the baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported visit of @gotabayar @Realbrajapaksa from Sri Lanka.”
It is reiterated that India will continue to support the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established democratic institutions and a constitutional framework.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa leaves for Maldives with wife,
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife, accompanied by two bodyguards, traveled to the Maldives after full approval from the country’s defense ministry, Sri Lankan officials confirmed on Wednesday (July 13).
In a statement, the Sri Lankan Air Force also said that the move was done under the executive powers vested with the President.
“According to the powers vested in an Executive President in the Constitution of Sri Lanka at the request of the Government, His Excellency the President and the Lady with two bodyguards are subject to full approval from Katunayake International Airport to Maldives. Ministry of Defense Immigration at Katunayake International Airport, Subject to customs and all other laws. An Air Force flight was scheduled to depart early in the morning on 13 July 2022,” the Sri Lankan Air Force’s media director said in a statement.
Gotabaya landed at the Velana International Airport in Maldives early Wednesday. The Prime Minister’s Office also confirmed that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left the country. On 11 July, Gotabaya signed a resignation letter to be submitted to the Speaker of Parliament to make a public announcement today (13 July).
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to be sworn in as interim president on 20 July until a new president is elected by Parliament and on 19 July for presidential nominations. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since its independence. There have been massive protests demanding the removal of Gotabaya from the presidency.
Sri Lanka’s parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeverdane has said that political party leaders have decided to elect a new president on July 20 through a vote in parliament. The development came to light after thousands of people barged into the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the fort on July 9. Dramatic scenes also came from the PM’s official residence, where he was seen playing carrom board, sleeping on the sofa, enjoying in the park premises and preparing food for dinner.
In the wake of record food price inflation, skyrocketing fuel costs and widespread commodity shortages, around 61 percent of households in Sri Lanka are regularly using coping strategies to cut costs, such as the amount of food they eat. reducing and increasingly consuming less nutritious food. ,
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is in the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.
(with inputs from agencies)
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