Muristek
Sandeep Dikshit
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 a press note.
Basil Rajapaksa visited India for financial assistance that would temporarily enable the cash-strapped Sri Lanka led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 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.
Basil Rajapaksa met PM Narendra Modi for the financial assistance. The two leaders discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to the bilateral relationship. These included agriculture, renewable energy, digitisation, tourism and fisheries among others, said a release from the Sri Lanka High Commission.
Pact signed
An agreement for extending a credit line of $1 billion to Sri Lanka signed on Thursday.In January, India extended a $400-million swap facility and deferred settlement of $515.2 million.