 agencies
COLOMBO, Jan 20: India will encourage greater investments in Sri Lanka's economy, especially in areas of energy, tourism and infrastructure, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said today, as he expressed India's solidarity with debt-ridden Sri Lanka during its "difficult moments".
Jaishankar, who is in Colombo on a two-day visit, called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday morning.
"My primary purpose to visit Colombo is to express India's solidarity with Sri Lanka during these difficult moments," Jaishankar said in a press statement.
"We've had a very good discussion that follows up on my meetings with my counterpart and other Sri Lankan ministers yesterday (Thursday) evening," he said.
India has extended about USD 4 billion in terms of credits and rollovers to help Sri Lanka get through an economic crisis.
"For us, it was an issue of the neighbourhood first and not leaving a partner to fend for themselves," Jaishankar said.
India felt strongly that Sri Lanka's creditors must take proactive steps to facilitate its recovery, he said.
"India decided not to wait on others, but to do what we believe is right. We extended financing assurances to the IMF to clear the way for Sri Lanka to move forward," he added.
"We extended financing assurances to the IMF to clear the way for Sri Lanka to move forward. Our expectation is that this will not only strengthen Sri Lanka's position but ensure that all bilateral creditors are dealt with equally," he added. Sri Lanka, which is trying to secure a USD 2.9 billion bridge loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was negotiating to get financial assurances from its major creditors - China, Japan and India - which is the requisite for Colombo to get the bailout package. The IMF bailout has been put on a halt as Sri Lanka pursues talks with creditors to meet the global lender's condition for the facility.
"Sri Lanka's pathway is one of a strong economic recovery propelled by greater investments. Here too. I have a clear message that I will be sharing with the business community," Jaishankar said. |
