Sri Lankan protesters reject PM Rajapaksa’s offer for talks; India may up aid by $2 billion: Top developments

India, meanwhile, is looking to send more assistance to the island nation, which is also set to have talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

A woman waits in line to buy domestic gas on a main road in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

Here are the top developments from the Sri Lanka crisis:

🔴 A statement by the Prime Minister’s office said that he is ready to start talks with the protesters at Galle Face Green, a protest site in Colombo where people have been camping to demonstrate against the Rajapaksas. “If protesters are ready to discuss their proposals to resolve the challenges currently facing the nation, then the prime minister is ready to invite their representatives for talks,” the statement said.

🔴 Protesters, however, rejected the proposal soon afterwards, news agency PTI reported. “We did not come here for talks. We are here to demand that you and the government resign,” one youth was quoted as saying. The protest site has been dubbed ‘GotaGoGama’ or the GotaGo-village, with several social media posts calling for people to join the demonstrations.

General view of a protest area, dubbed the Gota-Go village, where people are gathering in opposition to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa near the Presidential Secretariat, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

🔴 The Opposition, meanwhile, has given the government a week for the Prime Minister and his elder brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to step down from their positions. Speaking to Reuters, the national organiser of Samagi Jana Balawegaya, Eran Wickramaratne, said, “Political stability is a pre-condition for IMF talks. The people have no confidence in this government.” Threatening to move the no-trust vote, which is scheduled to meet next week, Wickramaratne added that the Opposition had the necessary numbers in Parliament.

🔴 Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda Wednesday to review the status of Indo-Lanka economic cooperation as Colombo enters negotiations with the IMF for an economic adjustment programme.

🔴 Reuters reported Wednesday that India “is willing to commit up to another $2 billion in financial assistance to Sri Lanka…as New Delhi tries to regain ground lost to China in recent years.” The agency quoted a senior government source as saying that Sri Lanka’s warning on Tuesday of defaulting on debt payments was a worry but that “we can still give them up to $2 billion in swaps and support”.

Drivers push their three-wheelers while waiting in a line to buy petrol at a Ceylon Ceypetco fuel station in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

🔴 The World Bank Wednesday expressed concern over the “uncertain economic outlook in Sri Lanka”, news agency AP reported. The financial institution said it is working to provide emergency support to poor and vulnerable families. The Sri Lankan government has said that the World Bank has provided $10 million to buy essential medicines and other medical equipment amid shortages.

🔴 The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka has provided food packets to families in Binigiriya, a Twitter statement said, ahead of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrated on Thursday and Friday.

🔴 S&P Global Ratings Wednesday lowered Sri Lanka’s foreign currency rating to “CC” from “CCC”. “CC” rating stands for “Highly vulnerable; default has not yet occurred, but is expected to be a virtual certainty”, according to its website.

— With agencies inputs