Beijing is ready to work with New Delhi to help Sri Lanka: Zhao Lijian
New Delhi: Not only the people of Sri Lanka and the government of the island country have noticed the help of India in its financial crisis, but the world has noted that stability and development in South Asia always remained the main priority of India.
The New Delhi government has released about USD 3 billion in assistance in the form of line credit and other modes to help Sri Lanka which has virtually declared insolvency and defaulted on all foreign loans including that of China totaling USD 51 billion.
Sri Lanka facing unprecedented economic turmoil leading to political unrest with protesters demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian in his latest statement said, “Beijing is ready to work with New Delhi and the rest of the international community to help Sri Lanka and other developing countries experiencing difficulty to pull through the hardship as early as possible,”
“We have taken note that the Indian government has also done a lot in this regard. We commend those efforts,” Zhao Lijian told a media briefing.
Zhao Lijian gave this statement when asked whether China, which has made big investments in Sri Lanka, is hesitating to help it when the island nation is facing the worst economic crisis.
China has announced assistance of USD 74 million for the supply of essential goods but remained silent about President Rajapaksa’s request to defer the loan repayment and as well as its earlier announcement to consider a USD 2.5 billion loan facility for Colombo.
(Vinayak)
