Highlights

  • India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka
  • Jaishankar’s visit to Sri Lanka was nothing short of a boon
  • After the tour, the way for the country to get loan from IMF could be cleared

India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar went on a tour of Sri Lanka. Jaishankar’s visit was no less than a boon for Sri Lanka, which was trapped in a severe economic crisis. After Jaishankar’s visit, the way for the country to get loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was cleared. This loan will be of great relief to the dying economy of the country. But this whole development has made China restless. Sri Lanka, which was in Chinese debt, was expecting help from China, but it had left in mid-waters. If Sri Lankan government sources are to be believed, as soon as Jaishankar arrived, China came under pressure and it too decided to take action like India.

That’s why China is upset

because of being situated in the Indian Ocean region, Sri Lanka becomes very important strategically for both China and India. Last year, huge protests broke out in the midst of the economic crisis in the country. In the midst of these demonstrations, the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had fled the country. The country’s economy sank due to Chinese debt. Jaishankar was in Colombo for 24 hours and China was watching his every moment. Sri Lanka was assured by India that it would help it get a $2.9 billion bailout package from the IMF. Only after this China lost its sleep and it also decided to take a similar step.

China was forced to hide its face

There were reports on Sunday that China has also promised to help Sri Lanka in getting the IMF bailout package. However, so far no official announcement has been made by President Xi Jinping’s government. Financial help was requested from China several times by the Government of Sri Lanka. But they did not get any assurances. If sources are to be believed, seeing the instability of the country, China started shying away from giving financial help. On behalf of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, it was said that India is the first country which has officially helped it to get the IMF loan.

How China’s attitude changed

In September 2022, the IMF had made an agreement with the Sri Lankan government. Under this, he was to be given a package of 48 months. This package will be given to Sri Lanka under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) rule. However, the EFF’s offer was subject to financial assurances from Sri Lanka’s three official creditors, India, China and Japan. Its purpose is to return the country’s debt stability. After this, China started getting cut from this program everyday by making one or the other excuse. But as soon as India took a step forward, its attitude changed.

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