Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had flagged off the ship laden with relief supplies, the first to be dispatched to Sri Lanka, from Chennai on Wednesday.
Embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had declared a state of emergency with effect from May 6 midnight, the second time in just over a month amidst growing countrywide anti-government protests over the economic crisis.
Sri Lanka is seeking to restructure debts of more than $50bn it owes to foreign creditors to make it more manageable to repay.
Opposition leader and lawmaker Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new prime minister of crisis-hit Sri Lanka. The movie is expected to end the current political crisis in the country, a local media reported.
Violence erupted in Sri Lanka on Monday after supporters of former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked peaceful anti-government protesters demanding his ouster over the country's worst economic crisis that led to acute shortages of staple food, fuel and power.
Going through its worst economic crisis, Sri Lanka on Monday was engulfed with violence after supporters of resigned Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked the peaceful protesters, who are on the streets for more than a month now, raising their voice against the severe economic crisis the country is going through.
The island nation has been witnessing widespread protests in the last few days.
Meanwhile, President Gotabaya and Prime Minister Mahinda have appealed to the people to exercise restraint and remember that violence only begets violence, saying the economic crisis needs an economic solution which his government is committed to resolving.
Facing the worst economic crisis since independence, Sri Lankans have been facing shortages of many essential items, including food, medicine, fuel cooking gas, as well as hours-long power cuts.
They attacked the anti-government protesters and set fire to temporary huts where some of them were on hunger strike urging the Rajapaksas to leave amidst worst economic crisis the country is going through.
Rajapaksa had declared emergency on April 1 also after a mass protest opposite his private residence. He had revoked it on April 5.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed" is the saying as it goes. The dictum is in full play as India has offered Sri Lanka an additional $500 million to help it to import fuel while it is in an advance stage of discussion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.
An official from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday urged Sri Lanka to tighten its monetary policy, raise taxes and adopt flexible exchange rates to overcome its ongoing debt crisis.
With the economic crisis and the shortage of forex, an Indian credit line of USD 500 million for fuel imports provided a lifeline to the island nation.
Rajapaksa also justified the public anger over the unbearable cost of living, but refused to give up his post despite mounting public pressure around the country with massive protests demanding him to step down.
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The prime minister has said if the protestors are ready for talks, he would extend an invitation for their representatives to meet for discussions, the statement noted.
The debt servicing suspension will be in force for an interim period pending an orderly and consensual restructuring consistent with the proposed arrangement with the IMF.
WATCH | Protest Continue To Erupt In Crisis-Torn Sri Lanka
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Chief Government Whip Johnston Fernando said the government will face this problem and there is no reason for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign as he was elected to office.
Soon after the government lost the majority power on Tuesday, Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main Tamil party representing Tamils from the North and East of the island nation, questioned continuity of Emergency regulation.
At the 2019 Presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was elected President with a sweeping 2/3 majority with over 6.9 million votes.
The dissidents, led by former president Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), would leave the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition with its 14 Members of Parliament, party sources said after their meeting with the President on Monday.
More ministers will be sworn into the cabinet in the coming days if the opposition parties agree to form a united government, government officials said.
The consignment forms part of the 300,000 tonnes of rice that will be shipped to Sri Lanka in the coming months.
The government declared a state of emergency after an angry mob surrounded the private residence of Rajapaksa on March 31.
Officials of the state fuel entity, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), said the Indian diesel supplies would ease the ongoing power cuts. The power cuts effective Saturday are over 8.5 hours.
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday declared a state of emergency in the country giving the security forces wide authority to arrest and detain suspects with immediate effect.
In recent weeks, Sri Lanka fisher organisations had stepped up pressure on the government to take steps to stop the Indian fishermen from entering Sri Lankan waters.
Visiting on the invitation of Sri Lanka's Foreign Affairs Minister, G.L. Peiris, Jaishankar's visit follows Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa's visit to India early this month and last December and Minister Peiris' visit to India in February
The Coast Guard saved them using a hovercraft and gave them food at the Coast Guard camp and then handed over to the police who shifted them to the Mandapam Camp. The rescued persons said that there were several refugees who were ready to sail to India.
The Sri Lankan Central Bank presented the cabinet of ministers earlier this week a set of proposals to overcome the current foreign exchange and fuel shortages, local media reported.
Sixty-three Indian Fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested and remanded to judicial custody by the Sri Lankan Navy in December 2021, and 53 of these fishermen are still in an isolation centre of the Sri Lankan government after being released from prison.
The fishermen also demanded that the Government of India provide compensation to the boats that are under custody of Sri Lankan authorities.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a shortage of almost all essentials due to a shortage of dollars to pay for the imports.
Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a shortage of almost all essentials due to a shortage of dollars to pay for the imports.
Participating at the event in Colombo, in the presence of the island nation's Transport Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Vinod K. Jacob, recalled the recent statement of Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar that "India would support Sri Lanka in difficult times" is an affirmation of the Neighborhood First policy in the current context.
In August 2021, the country opened its borders for fully vaccinated travellers and the next month it also removed the mandatory on-arrival PCR tests.
The World Bank estimates 500,000 people have fallen below the poverty line since the beginning of the pandemic, the equivalent of five years' progress in fighting poverty.
Sri Lanka's foreign exchange reserves further dropped to $1,587 million in November 2021 - the lowest since May 2009. In October, Sri Lanka's forex reserves stood at $2,269.2 million recorded in October. The country's forex reserves are just enough to cater to a month's imports.
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