Harshit Singh
Days before his first official visit to New Delhi, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that Sri Lanka would like to see the Indian rupee utilized equally to the U.S. dollar.
This statement was made by Mr. Wickremesinghe, who is also the cash-strapped nation’s Finance Minister, this week when speaking at the Indian CEO Forum.
India and the Indian Ocean region are seeing substantial expansion today, just as East Asia, which included nations like China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, did 75 years ago, according to Mr. Wickremesinghe.
Next week, Mr. Wickremesinghe is anticipated to travel to New Delhi for the first time since taking office a year ago, when the island country was experiencing unparalleled political and economic unrest.
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T.S. Prakash, the forum chair, had urged increased use of the Indian rupee in the Sri Lankan economy in his speech, to which Mr. Wickremesinghe responded.
“Whether India (the Indian rupee) becomes a global reserve currency has no bearing on us. We must determine the best course of action. Mr. Wickremesinghe stated that we must be more receptive to the outside world.
“The world is changing, and India is developing quickly, especially under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi,” he continued.
The Daily Mirror newspaper reported him as adding that Sri Lanka benefits from its proximity to India as well as from its lengthy history, cultural heritage, and 2,500-year-old trading connections.
Despite its delayed recovery, Mr. Wickremesinghe claims to have led the island nation out of its economic catastrophe.
“Once debt restructuring is complete, our attention will turn to a comprehensive growth program. This requires a significant revamp of our legal system, economic structure, and other mechanisms to put us on the same trajectory as India,” he remarked. Wickremesinghe The 74-year-old politician from Sri Lanka was chosen by the legislature to complete the remainder of the deposed president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure.
With a $4 billion economic aid package, India has provided a lifeline to the final days of the Rajapaksa administration.
Sri Lanka used the Indian credit lines to buy petrol and necessities while the nation was experiencing a currency crisis that resulted in widespread street unrest.
Gopal Bagle, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, who was present at the ceremony on July 13, claimed that the Indian government and the Indian business community had assisted the island country in recovering from the financial crisis of the previous year.
According to Mr. Bagle, “Even during the initial crisis, Indian businessmen started doing business in Sri Lanka to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the country’s financial status is stable.”
