Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday and held productive discussions on the situation in the island nation and India's ongoing support to mitigate the economic crisis in the country.
Kwatra told Rajapaksa that India will extend its fullest support to Sri Lanka in order to overcome the difficult situation, according to the newsfirst.lk website.
The Foreign Secretary was accompanied by Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance of India, Ajay Seth, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, Dr V Anantha Nageswaran and Joint Secretary of the Indian Ocean Region IOR Kartik Pande of the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
The delegation looked at the already provided assistance in terms of fuel, medicine, fertilizer and other essentials and said that the Indian government is committed to support Sri Lanka.
In a tweet, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that Kwatra, accompanied by Seth and Nageswaran, met President Rajapaksa and held productive discussions on the current situation in Sri Lanka and India's ongoing support.
Sri Lanka's centrality was reiterated by India's NeighbourhoodFirst policy. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the development of India-Lanka ties, Bagchi said.
Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, which has resulted in an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel across the island nation.