Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCC), Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda said that India was Sri Lanka’s main partner in helping it deal with the economic crisis last year.
India extended financial assistance worth around USD 4 billion to Sri Lanka, including lines of credit, for purchases of food and fuel last year when the island nation was under a dire economic crisis. India also provided guarantees to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help Sri Lanka secure a USD 2.9 billion bailout package.
There were many questions, as expected, on the China angle and the High Commissioner said that as far as China’s attempts to expand influence over Sri Lanka go, the India-Sri Lanka relationship is too important to be measured in the context of a third country.
“We have to get back to the growth path. Growth is the key aspect. For that, India becomes a key partner. India was our main partner last year in helping stabilisation of our economy with different instruments,” he explained.
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“For the revival of the economy too, India will be an important partner. We have to diversify our sources of income when it comes to exports and foreign exchange earnings,” the High Commissioner said.
When asked if Gautam Adani was favored to construct a multipurpose port in Sri Lanka, Moragoda said, “He was among the first to arrive with a concrete proposal to construct the port. There is no politics in this. It’s purely an investment decision the government of Sri Lanka made. We are not competent to comment on the businessmen relations with the government in India. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, we welcome investment decisions.” The project is on and will be completed, he added.
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The Adanis are also the first to arrive in Israel and they are going to construct the Haifa port, he pointed out in his remarks.
He also spoke on improving the connectivity between the two countries, increasing flow of Indian tourists to Sri Lanka, and integration of the Sri Lankan economy with that of India as possible steps that would support Colombo’s efforts to spur growth.
“We are in the process of restructuring our debt. We have to do a lot of structural reform to our economy,” he said.
The High Commissioner pointed out that Sri Lanka was also trying to roll out India’s RuPay in their country.
Moragoda also pointed out that negotiations for a power purchase agreement between the two countries are being finalised. “We are also hoping to soon sign an MoU with India on cable connection for power lines,” he said.
--Antje Stiebitz and Simran Sodhi
Design: Anil Yadav
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