“No Political Conditions, Just Timely Support” - India's Dr. Jaishankar on Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st); Dr. S. Jaishankar, India's External Affairs Minister, emphasized India's pivotal role in stabilizing Sri Lanka's economy during its severe economic crisis. 

Speaking in the United States of America, Dr. Jaishankar highlighted that India provided timely and substantial assistance when no other country stepped forward.

He clarified that India's assistance was given without any political conditions, driven by the desire to prevent an economic meltdown in a neighboring country. "We were doing it as a good neighbor who did not want to see that kind of economic meltdown at our doorstep," he added.

"We stepped forward in respect of Sri Lanka when it was facing a very deep economic crisis, and very frankly, when nobody else came forward. And I'm very glad we did it. We did it in a timely manner. We did it on scale. We put out four and a half billion dollars effectively. And what it did was, it stabilized the Sri Lankan economy, and the rest of it was up to them," Dr. Jaishankar stated.

Dr. Jaishankar also addressed the broader context of India's relationships with its neighbors, noting that each country has its own dynamics and that India does not seek to control the political moves of its neighbors. 

He highlighted the positive outcomes of India's projects with Bangladesh over the past decade, which have benefited both countries.

"In foreign policy, you try to read it. You try to anticipate it. You also respond to it. And I'm very confident at the end of it all, in our neighborhood, the realities of interdependence, of mutual benefit, of the fact that our ability to get along will serve both our interests, those realities will assert themselves," Dr. Jaishankar concluded.