India to invest more in Sri Lanka

India is willing to make more investments in neighbouring Sri Lanka after supporting it with $3.8 billion this year, New Delhi’s envoy in Colombo told the Indian Express newspaper.

“The idea is to respond to Sri Lanka’s requests for enabling them to meet their foreign exchange crisis,” said Gopal Baglay, India’s high commissioner in Sri Lanka.

“We would like to continue to bring more investment into Sri Lanka because that will help create medium- and long-term capacity to respond within the Sri Lankan economy.”

Sri Lanka declared a nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country.

Tens of thousands of men and women overran Rajapaksa’s official residence earlier this month, forcing him to escape to a military base and later flee the country.

Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and came to a head last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages of basic goods, and corruption.