New Delhi, March 17
The State Bank of India on Thursday signed an agreement for extending a credit line of $1 billion to Sri Lanka enabling it to buy food, medicine and other essential items.
The agreement was signed after Union Ministers S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman held discussions on economic cooperation and “issues of mutual interest’’ with Sri Lanka Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, said an official news release.
Basil Rajapaksa visited India for financial assistance which will temporarily enable the cash-strapped Sri Lanka to stave off an unprecedented economic crisis.
On the eve of his visit, Colombo sent a positive signal by signing a joint venture with India three days back for a 100 mw solar power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee to compensate for the scrapping of an Indo-Japan coal power project on environmental grounds. On the security side, Colombo last week hosted another conference of NSAs of regional countries for a collective approach to maritime security.
In January, India had bailed out Sri Lanka from its balance of payments difficulties by extending a $400 million swap facility and deferring the settlement of $515.2 million. Thus, the help extended by India is worth over $900 million and about $1.5 billion more is in the pipeline.
