India on Tuesday announced a reconstruction package of USD 450 million to Cyclone Ditwah-hit Sri Lanka, as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with the island nation\u2019s top leaders and assured Delhi\u2019s steadfast commitment to Colombo\u2019s rebuilding post-cyclone.<\/p>\n
Jaishankar, who arrived here as Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Special Envoy, said that it was natural for India to step forward at a time when Sri Lanka faced a crisis.<\/p>\n
The minister called President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and conveyed PM Modi\u2019s warm wishes and message of solidarity in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Letter from Prime Minister Modi that I handed over builds on our First Responder role and commits a reconstruction package of USD 450 million to Sri Lanka,\u201d Jaishankar said while addressing the press alongside Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.<\/p>\n
Jaishankar said he had a detailed discussion with the President on the damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah and their talks centred around how expeditiously India\u2019s assistance package can be delivered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe assistance package that we have proposed is worth USD 450 million. It will include USD 350 million in concessional Lines of Credit and USD 100 million of grants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the assistance will cover sectors worst affected by the cyclone, including rehabilitation and restoration of road, railway and bridge connectivity; support for the construction of damaged houses, support for health and education systems, agriculture, and working towards better disaster response and preparedness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are conscious that work towards mitigating the impact of Cyclone Ditwah on the people of Sri Lanka must be done in the quickest time possible. We are discussing an effective coordination mechanism for the earliest possible delivery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jaishankar and his counterpart Herath jointly inaugurated a 120-ft dual carriageway Bailey Bridge in the Kilinochchi district of Northern Province, one of the areas severely affected by the cyclone, in the presence of President Dissanayake. The 110-tonne bridge was air-lifted from India and installed as part of Operation Sagar Bandhu.<\/p>\n
Given the scale of damage, restoring connectivity was clearly an immediate priority, and this was in fact discussed between President Dissanayake and PM Modi in their telephone call, Jaishankar said.<\/p>\n
He said that a large number of Army Engineers erected the Bailey bridge, transported by C-17 aircraft at Killinochchi. One more Bailey bridge at Chilaw is currently under construction.<\/p>\n
He said India\u2019s relief and assistance mission \u2014 Operation Sagar Bandhu \u2014 commenced on the very day that Cyclone Ditwah made landfall.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, Operation Sagar Bandhu delivered over 1,100 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential clothing and water purification kits. About 14.5 tonnes of medicines and medical equipment were also provided. Yet another 60 tonnes of equipment was brought to Sri Lanka to assist the relief operations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a post on X, President Dissanayake said he conveyed Sri Lanka\u2019s deep gratitude to PM Modi and the Government of India for their \u201cswift, compassionate support\u201d following Cyclone Ditwah, including a USD 450 million relief package. He described it as a \u201cnew chapter\u201d in India\u2013Sri Lanka relations.<\/p>\n
Jaishankar also met Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and assured India\u2019s steadfast commitment to Sri Lanka\u2019s rebuilding post-cyclone. \u201cThe reconstruction package offered by India is a reflection of the deep bonding between our two nations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India on Tuesday announced a reconstruction package of USD 450 million to Cyclone Ditwah-hit Sri Lanka, as External…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46,156223],"class_list":["post-363880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy","tag-india-announces-usd-450-million-package-as-pm-modis-special-envoy-meets-cyclone-hit-lankas-top-leaders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}