Sri Lanka: India sends 11K MT of rice ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing economic crisis and countrywide unrest in Sri Lanka, India on Wednesday sent 11,000 metric tons of rice to the island neighbor, a day before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo twitted: “11,000 MT rice from #India reached #Colombo on board ship Chen Glory today ahead of New Year celebration by people of Sri Lanka. 16,000 MT of rice was supplied under India’s multi-pronged support to Sri Lanka in the past week alone. These supplies, which mark the special bond between India and Sri Lanka, will continue.”
The consignment was delivered under the terms of a USD 1 billion concessional Indian credit facility. Earlier, 5,000 MT of rice was received recently.
With this, Sri Lanka has received 16,000 MT out of the 40,000 MT of rice it plans to import from India.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo stated the State Bank of India and the Government of Sri Lanka had inked a USD 1 billion credit facility agreement on March 17. The delivery is part of India’s support for Sri Lanka over the last few months, which includes timely gasoline deliveries, and other forms of economic and monetary help.
Apart from providing approximately 27,000 MT of petroleum, India is providing fuel, vegetables, daily ration items, and medications to Sri Lanka.
In the Indian Ocean island country, they usually celebrate the New Year on the 13th or 14th of April, beginning with the sighting of the new moon.
(Venkatesh)
