The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday denied reports about India-aided projects in Sri Lanka having been halted in retaliation to India voting against the island nation at the United Nations Human Rights Council and the extreme stridency with which some Tamil Nadu parties have raised the issue of civilian casualties during Colombo’s war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
On the contrary, most mega Indian projects were ahead of schedule and both countries were preparing to reopen their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to give bilateral trade a further impetus, said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
50,000 dwelling units
Mr. Akbaruddin especially mentioned the work of providing 50,000 dwelling units to the internally displaced people, which is one of India’s biggest projects in terms of scale.
Phase two of the project, entailing the construction of 43,000 units, was ahead of schedule, while two railways lines being rebuilt at an India-provided line of credit of $800 millions in the Tamil-dominated areas too was ahead of schedule.
