Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister MUM Ali Sabry has said that the Indian assistance during the crisis was a lifeline. Speaking to reporters today, he said that Sri Lanka was lucky to get the credit lines from India until Sri Lanka could get international funding tranches.

He added that a number of projects are being discussed with India including Energy Hubs at Trincomalee and Hambantota. The minister added that two projects have already taken off including Port development in Colombo and a wind power project at Mannar. Mr. Sabry added that Sri Lanka is looking at fast-tracking the progress of other projects such as the Sampur Power project and three island projects in Jaffna.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister said that for thirty years the Northern and Eastern provinces were neglected. However, the government is making efforts to increase investments into these areas, particularly the connectivity with India. He noted that Alliance Air has now increased the frequency of Chennai-Jaffna flights and is flying daily while ferry services are also being developed. He informed that international universities are also being planned to be started in the hill country as well as the Northern and Eastern regions.

Regarding the long-standing issue of devolution of powers to the northern and eastern provinces, he stated that President Ranil Wickremesinghe has already started negotiations on finding a lasting solution as a priority.