India has extended a helping hand to Sri Lanka, which is facing economic crisis. India sent 40,000 tonnes of diesel to Sri Lanka on Saturday. Sumit Wijesinghe, chairman of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, said that the distribution of fuel will start from this evening. He said this is good news for hundreds of fuel stations across Sri Lanka, which had no supply for the past few days.
According to the report, a consignment of 40 thousand tonnes of rice is also being prepared to be sent from India to Sri Lanka. The two countries signed a loan agreement worth $1 billion last month. After this, this will be the first major food aid from India to Sri Lanka. It is believed that with this help, the government in Sri Lanka will be successful to some extent in bringing down food prices, which have doubled in the last one year.
Pattabhi Agro Foods Managing Director BV Krishna Rao said that we are loading the containers first. The ship-loading process will begin in a few days. The firm is supplying rice to Sri Lanka State Trading (General) Corp under a credit facility agreement between the Indian and Sri Lankan governments.
Sri Lanka facing worst economic crisis in decades
The diesel shipment is part of an additional $500 million in fuel assistance for the Sri Lankan government. Sri Lanka is struggling to deal with its worst economic crisis in decades. The prices of food and essential commodities are skyrocketing here. There has been a shortage of petrol and diesel in the country this week, forcing the deployment of armed soldiers at filling stations. Also, there has been a power cut for 13 hours here.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a nationwide public emergency amid ongoing protests across the country over the economic crisis. Rajapaksa issued a special gazette notification late Friday night declaring a public emergency in Sri Lanka with immediate effect from April 1.