India assures continued support for Sri Lanka.

Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar assured Sri Lanka of the support of India to look into the ways and means of stabilizing and recovering the Sri Lankan economy, including through tourism and investments. The Indian Minister’s assurance came when he met with Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda to discuss the way forward with regard to the Indian assistance to recover the economy. At the outset, High Commissioner Moragoda briefed Minister Jaishankar on the present developments in Sri Lanka and thanked him for his personal involvement in continuing the assistance that India has extended to Sri Lanka in the form of credits for essential commodities and fuel, as well as balance of payment support, as bridging finance until an IMF programme would be in place. He also appreciated India taking up the case of Sri Lanka with the IMF, other multilateral institutions and bilateral development partners. Foreign Secretary of India Shri Vinay Kwatra as well as senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi also participated in the meeting. External Affairs Minister Jaishankar had chaired a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on Saturday (18) on the situation in Sri Lanka where unanimous support on the need to stand with Sri Lanka in this difficult time had been expressed. The High Commissioner and the External Affairs Minister will remain in contact to review the progress in this regrad.