‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’: Sri Lanka praises India

New Delhi: India helped Sri Lanka more than any other country, especially when the island nation was struggling through an unprecedented crisis, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry said during the Raisina Dialogue ‘Ideas Pod.’

While the Indian government took some bold decisions to help the country tide over its economic crisis, even the Indian public came forward to support Sri Lanka, the country’s foreign minister said in a podcast.

Sabry said, “Your real friends are tested when bad time comes. India has stood by us, a friend in need and a friend indeed that they say. So we are very grateful to India, for what it has done for us.”

The minister also stated that the Indian government took some very bold, decisive actions by providing the island nation with about 3.9 billion worth of bilateral credit and accreditation.
He further stated that it is the line which gave Sri Lanka the lifeline to fight the battle for another day, which probably saved the bankrupt country from oblivion.

Recalling India’s effort in saving Sri Lanka from drowning in debt, Sabry said that India came at the very beginning. He further stated that India’s intervention was higher than the other countries.

India sent financing assurances to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), becoming the first of Sri Lanka’s creditors to officially back the crisis-hit island nation’s debt restructuring programme.

“This takes Sri Lanka one step closer to getting a crucial USD 2.9-billion package from the IMF, made contingent on “receiving financing assurances from Sri Lanka’s official creditors and making a good faith effort to reach a collaborative agreement with private creditors,” Mr Sabry said.

Sri Lankan foreign affairs minister was on an official visit to New Delhi to attend Raisina Dialogue – 2023, India’s premier conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, jointly hosted by the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs of India from March 2-4.

Image courtesy of (Photo: Wikipedia)

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