Sri Lanka has been suffering a severe economic crisis and is witnessing nationwide protests against the government. The island nation is in debt in billions due to years of accumulated borrowings, record inflation, lack of foreign currency and crucial sectors witnessing a sharp fall in demand. It is also alleged that the government’s mismanagement is one of the reasons that has put Sri Lanka into not just an unprecedented economic crisis but also massive political turmoil.
Meanwhile, India as a friendly nation has been providing a helping hand. Recently, India supplied over 270,000 MT of fuel to Sri Lanka so far to help ease the power crisis in Sri Lanka.
Former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya called India a ‘big brother’ and lauded the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending help to the island nation in the ongoing crisis in the country.
“As a neighbour and a big brother of our country, India has always helped us. We’re grateful to the Indian government and PM Modi. For us, it is not easy to survive because of the current scenario. We hope to come out from this with the help of India & other countries,” he said.
“People can’t survive like this. This is why they started to protest because there are fuel shortages, gas shortages, and electricity is not there for 10-12 hours sometimes. It has been really hard for the people of this country. That’s why people have started to come out and protest,” Jayasuriya told news agency ANI.
“I would like to say do protest peacefully, not violently. It’s the protest by genuine people who come out and tell the government that they are suffering,” he told ANI.
The Indian government has also announced another $1 billion as a credit to Sri Lanka to help shore up the sinking economy of the island nation. The $1 billion line of credit to Colombo will help in keeping their food prices and fuel costs under check.