The funds will be used to reconstruct island infrastructure that was destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah
India will provide a $450 million aid package to Sri Lanka to help the island nation in its reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah.
The November cyclone left more than 600 dead, millions homeless, and inflicted damage worth $4 billion.
“Just as Sri Lanka was recovering from the economic crisis of 2022, this natural disaster has created new difficulties,” Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said on Tuesday, announcing the package while visiting his Sri Lankan counterpart, Vijitha Herath.
Jaishankar, who is visiting Colombo on behalf of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the package will mainly be used for infrastructure repair, housing, agriculture, health, education and disaster preparedness.
In 2022, during the height of the economic crisis, @DrSJaishankar flew down to Colombo & met the locals who were in fuel queues for hours. He did what no Sri Lankan politician was ready to do at that time, and checked on the fuel crisis.
The South Asian island nation’s disaster management center said that 108,000 people have been accommodated in temporary shelters, while hundreds remain missing.
New Delhi dispatched urgent humanitarian assistance and disaster relief material to Sri Lanka immediately after the disaster struck.
India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is also coordinating with Sri Lankan authorities and aiding in relief and rescue operations.
New Delhi has also deployed helicopters from one of its aircraft carriers, the INS Vikrant, which was docked in Colombo, to support the island nation’s rescue and relief operations.
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