Talks between India and Sri Lanka for debt relief sees progress

July 10, 2020 at 10:39 AM

India said it was holding talks with Sri Lanka over its request for postponement of repayment of debt. “The matter has progressed and technical level discussions are presently underway,” spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.

He was responding to a question on the issue at an online media briefing, the Press Trust of India reported.

Sri Lanka is reeling under a major economic crisis and has requested several countries and international donors, including India to provide debt relief.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to repay $2.9 billion of its total external debt this year and has so far made three requests to India — a debt moratorium and two separate requests for a currency swap facility, The Hindu newspaper reported.