Indian government supportive of Sri Lanka, trying to help it: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar

The External Affairs Minister stressed that there was "no refugee crisis right now"

July 10, 2022 01:19 pm | Updated 07:03 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram:

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. File

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. File | Photo Credit: AP

Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Sunday said the Indian government has always been supportive of Sri Lanka and it was "trying to help" the neighbouring country through its present economic crisis and made it clear that there was "no refugee crisis right now".

Speaking to reporters outside the Thiruvananthapuram airport after arriving in the State capital on a three-day visit, Mr. Jaishankar said, "We have been very supportive of Sri Lanka. We are trying to help and we are always very helpful where they are concerned.

"They are right now working through their problems, so we have to wait and see what they do."

He was responding to a query on India's stand on the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

On being asked whether there was any refugee crisis, the Union Minister said, "There is no refugee crisis right now."

Mr. Jaishankar was also asked by reporters the reason for his visit to which he replied that there were several.

He said he wanted to spend time with his party colleagues here and understand how they are doing and what is happening here.

Asked how he sees BJP prospects in the southern State, the Union Minister responded that prospects of the party were "very good" all over the country.

"There is no exception to it anywhere. But we will always try and keep working to improve the prospects," he added.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.