India has dismissed reports that it is sending troops to Sri Lanka against the backdrop of chaos reigning in the island nation. Reacting to “speculative reports” in sections of the media and on social media, the Indian high commission in Colombo categorically denied that India is sending troops to Sri Lanka. “These reports and such views are also not in keeping with the position of the Government of India,” the mission said in a brief statement.
The high commission also noted that the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson had clearly said on Sunday that “India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realise their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established institutions and constitutional framework”.
Highly-placed diplomatic sources told The Daily Guardian Review that India is moving quite cautiously in terms of taking any stand over developments in Sri Lanka. “New Delhi does not want to be seen as interfering in internal political developments and government formation in the island nation,” sources said.
India has been reiterating that it is working for the
“people of Sri Lanka” in a bid to negate any apprehension that it is backing the Rajapaksa family or any particular political leader.
The statement from MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Sunday signaled that India is maintaining a safe distance from the political establishment in Lanka. But at the same time, as a responsible neighbour, India is showing its support and care for the crisis-stricken people of the island nation, sources said. “New Delhi’s statement saying that it stands with the people of the island nation is a message that India is concerned about the public of Sri Lanka amid the massive crisis,” sources said. “All help that India has been extending so far is in fact aimed at mitigating the problems of people of Sri Lanka, and it should not be seen as anything amounting to the country interfering in the internal matters of the island nation,” says an official who is monitoring the situation in Colombo.
In what reaffirmed this line only, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in Thiruvananthapuram said that the Indian government had always been supportive of Sri Lanka and it was trying to help the neighbouring country through its present economic crisis. “They are right now working through their problems, so we have to wait and see what they do.”
All that the EAM and the MEA spokesperson said so far signals that India is distancing itself from the political development in the current fluid situation. “That the people of the island nation are at the center of India’s attention is the message being driven home,” sources add.
MEA spokesperson clearly stated on Sunday that India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established institutions and a constitutional framework. India stands with the people of Sri Lanka as they seek prosperity and progress through democratic means and constitutional framework and continue to follow the development in the island country, he added.
As Sri Lanka’s neighbour and first responder, India’s recent economic aid stands at USD 3.5 billion. According to sources, Indian diplomats in Colombo are keeping a “close watch” on the ground situation, and are updating the Indian leadership on the developments accordingly. Meanwhile, New Delhi had also supported Sri Lanka during the meetings at the IMF in March this year. Sources said that with China’s strategic footprint growing in the region, India wants stability and peace in the country so that its security and strategic interests can remain unaffected.