Four Pronged Strategy On Srilanka Crisis:
India and Sri Lanka agreed to a four-pronged approach to discuss initiatives on food and energy security to help mitigate Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, during a two-day visit by Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to New Delhi.
- The decisions included a four-pillar initiative, comprising
- lines of credit for food, medicines and fuel purchases granted by India,
- a currency swap agreement to deal with Sri lanka’s balance of payment issues,
- an “early” modernisation project of the Trinco oil farms that India has been pursuing for several years, and
- a Sri Lankan commitment to facilitate Indian investments in various sectors.
- It was agreed that modalities to realise these objectives would be finalised early, within a mutually agreed timeline.
- Jaishankar will meet Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Saturday in Abu Dhabi when they will inaugurate the Indian Ocean Region Conference organised by the India Foundation.
- India and Sri Lanka have had a number of differences on economic issues in the past two years, particularly over the perception that the Rajapaksa Government has favoured Chinese companies on projects that it expedites.
- Matters came to a head this year after President Gotabaya cancelled an MoU signed with India and Japan for the East Coast Terminal project.
- India protested the cancellation though it later agreed to the West Coast Terminal being developed by the Adani group.
