Santosh Jha, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, also reaffirmed India’s support for island nation’s debt restructuring efforts, securing IMF support, and extending bilateral financial support to overcome immediate challenges.

Emphasising the importance of a robust partnership between India and Sri Lanka, highlighting the intertwined destinies of the two nations, Jha – who was speaking at the 45th National Conference of CA Sri Lanka – underscored the shared geography, history, and future that bind the two countries.

India provided USD 4 billion in financing facilities to Sri Lanka, amounting to around 5 percent of Sri Lanka’s precrisis gross domestic product (GDP), just under 1 percent of India’s official foreign reserves, and exceeding the USD 3 billion the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is providing to Sri Lanka from 2023 to 2027.