India Has Really Helped Us During This Crisis: Ranil Wickremesinghe
Date
6/21/2022 12:41:26 AM
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
India has“really helped” Sri Lanka in its efforts to cope with
the island's economic crash, the island nation's Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe said, however observing that aid coming in
from different sources has put Sri Lanka“in the middle of
geopolitics”, Trend reports citing The Hindu .
Over a month after his unexpected appointment - following former
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation amid unceasing
anti-government protests over the crisis - Wickremesinghe spoke to
The Hindu in his Colombo office on Saturday. The six-time premier
sounded surprisingly upbeat in possibly the toughest assignment of
his political career of nearly half a century.“It's hectic, this
is a new experience. I am working eight days a week,” he laughed.
Outlining his immediate plans for economic recovery the 73-year-old
PM, who is also the Finance Minister, said the government hopes to
firm up the staff level agreement with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) by the end of June.
“Then we have to wait for the debt restructuring plan. That will
give us a clear indication of what we have to do. By July, I also
hope to bring in the Interim Budget,” he said. Speaking of a“donor
conference” where Sri Lanka will seek further foreign aid,
Wickremesinghe said:“We have got to ensure that India, China,
Japan all are singing the same tune.” Sri Lanka is“in the middle
of geopolitics”, he said, referring to assistance from the Quad,
mainly through its members India and Japan, and China.
Commenting on foreign investment, Wickremesinghe emphatically
welcomed the Adani Group's entry into the country's energy sector,
despite the group's project being caught in a controversy, after a
top Sri Lankan official told a Parliamentary panel that Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had“pressured” President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa to clear the US$ 500 million renewable energy project in
Northern Sri Lanka. The official subsequently withdrew his
statement.“If the Indian Government was really interested, I would
have been told about this by Prime Minister Modi or his office. I
haven't got any request to expedite it,” PM Wickremesinghe
said.
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