India, Japan to jointly address Sri Lanka crisis

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida have joined hands to address the crisis in Sri Lanka.

Both the countries reached this agreement after the meeting on May 24, on the sidelines of the powerful regional grouping, the 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue' (QSD) meeting.

"They also discussed the situation in Sri Lanka and confirmed that they will cooperate with each other in light of the current economic crisis and deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country," the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At the meeting, the two leaders concurred that it is important for like-minded countries to work closely to further promote efforts to realize a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" all the more because of the current circumstances amid difficult international situations.

Based on the outcome of the QUAD Leaders' Meeting, the two leaders concurred to steadily promote practical cooperation in various fields to deliver concrete benefits to countries in the region. In light of this, they welcomed the signing of the USD 100 million loan facility between the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Export-Import Bank of India as an outcome of the Quad Vaccine Partnership.

Even before this agreement, India was helping Sri Lanka to extricate from its economic crunch. India has sent assistance worth several billion US dollars to rescue the money-strapped Sri Lankan government accompanied by shiploads of humanitarian aid, cooking gas, large quantities of fuel, and medicinal supplies.

Besides the humanitarian and monetary assistance, India also extended USD 15 million to the Sri Lankan Government for promoting Buddhist religious activities, states Sathipattana.

(ANI)