Context: Sri Lanka is facing a debt crisis and it has asked for assistance from China. Reason of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis: Fitch Ratings has downgraded Sri Lanka’s debt to the level just above default. Country’s foreign debt had reached 42.6 per cent of gross domestic product. It has to pay off almost $5 billion …
India and Sri Lanka have agreed to a four-pronged package to help mitigate Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. Four-pronged package: Urgent food and health security package that includes an extension of a line of credit to cover the import of food, medicines and other essential items from India to Sri Lanka Energy security package that includes a line of …
India’s cooperation plan for Sri Lanka – UPSC GS2 Read More »
Context: Sri Lanka’s has pulled out of a 2019 Colombo Port deal with India and Japan. The agreement was for developing the strategic East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port. What was the agreement? The ECT deal was important as between 60 and 70 percent of trans-shipment that takes place through it is India-linked. As …
Basics: Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar are major fishing grounds for both the countries. Given the proximity of the territorial waters of both countries, especially in the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar, incidents of straying of fishermen are common. Indian boats have been fishing in the troubled waters for centuries and had a free run of the Bay of Bengal, Palk Bay and …
Context: Hambantota port is located right in middle of vital energy supply lines in Indian Ocean, connecting Middle East and East Asia. Sri Lanka has signed a US $1.1 billion deal to sell a 70% stake of the strategic Hambantota deep-sea port to China. Hambantota port is a deep-water port in the southern tip of …
Status of Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka: Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) is at 16.8% Sri Lankan Rupee has fallen. The price of cooking gas spiked and the price of the milk powder shot up. Authorities were forced to cancel school examinations for millions of students, due to a shortage of paper. Sri Lanka must repay …
About UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka: United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) has adopted a resolution titled “Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka”. The resolution said that the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated under the current administration. Further, the resolution also mentions that the rights defenders and ethnic and religious …