GG News Bureau
Colombo, 8th Feb. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has stated that India is the island nation’s closest ally in times of crisis. Last year, Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy and defaulted on $51 billion in foreign loans for the first time since gaining independence from Britain in 1948.
Over the last year, India has played a significant role in assisting the island nation in overcoming its economic crisis.
Prime Minister Gunawardena, speaking at the Tata Tiscon Dealer Convention 2023 in Colombo, urged Indian companies to invest more in Sri Lanka.
He further said that India is the biggest friend of Sri Lanka in times of crisis, the Colombo Gazette portal reported.
Outlining the benefits of Indian investments in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Gunawardena highlighted that 90 per cent of components used by Lanka Ashok Leyland were indigenous, it said.
Speaking at the event, High Commissioner Gopal Baglay stated that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Neighbourhood First Policy, both the Government of India and Indian corporates are working to build relationships that benefit people within and outside of India, particularly the neighbors.
He went on to say that the community-centered business practices and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’s (the world is one family) philosophy were the driving forces behind this spirit of engagement.
The High Commissioner referred to India and Sri Lanka as “civilisational twins,” noting that both governments are promoting people-to-people and business-to-business ties.
He went on to say that the presence of numerous Indian business entities at the convention was the biggest vote of confidence not only in the two countries’ relationship, but also in Sri Lanka’s potential.
Business and commercial ties between the two countries are expanding steadily. In 2021, India was the largest investor as well as the largest export destination for Sri Lanka. India is still the most popular tourist destination.
Indian companies in Sri Lanka actively support the country’s economic recovery by increasing economic activity, adding value to products and services, creating jobs for Sri Lankans, and providing direct assistance to the people of Sri Lanka through various corporate social responsibility activities.
India has gone above and beyond in the last year to assist Sri Lanka’s collapsing economy.
Given the island nations’ proximity in economic cooperation with China until then, Sri Lanka’s unprecedented economic crisis had paradoxically brought the best out of India’s concerns for its southern neighbor.
When the crisis first hit a year ago, India offered $4 billion in assistance.
India has also given the required assurances to debt-ridden Sri Lanka for the much-needed IMF bailout package.
Sri Lanka, which is trying to secure a $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 hold as Sri Lanka pursues talks with creditors to meet the global lender’s conditions for it.
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