S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, described the situation in Sri Lanka on Tuesday as ‘very sensitive and very complicated’ adding that India is now concentrating on the economic elements of the neighbouring nation.
According to the minister, New Delhi is dedicated to helping the hospitable inhabitants of the island country. During a meet-the-press event hosted by the press club and local journalists’ union, the Minister responded to a question, ‘The situation in Sri Lanka is very sensitive, it is very complicated. Even as we speak many developments are taking place’.
Jaishankar further said that India has recently shown a lot of support for the people of Sri Lanka. ‘What I can tell you is that– our commitment, our support is for the Sri Lankan people because they are our neighbours, they are friendly people. We want to help them to go through a very difficult phase of their life and because of this feeling of friendship, we have been extremely supportive of them in the last few months’, he said.
The Minister responded that India’s focus right now is on the economic situation in Sri Lanka and it is not involved in other matters when asked whether India might grant asylum to important members of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family who were attempting to flee in the face of intense public anger against them for mismanaging the economy and leaving the country bankrupt.
‘Our focus right now is on the Sri Lankan economic situation, how can we help them…we are not involved in the other matters’, Mr Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister had stated on Sunday that India has pledged USD 3.8 billion for Sri Lanka’s help amid the latter’s economic crisis, which had been accumulating over time.
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