Former Sri Lankan FM Praises India’s Swift Relief Amid Cyclone Ditwah Havoc

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Sri Lanka’s former Foreign Minister Ali Sabry thanked India for its rapid support as Cyclone Ditwah leaves a massive trail of destruction. He said the worst of the cyclone may be over, but its aftermath remains severe, with rising river levels threatening Colombo, Gampaha and western regions.  #CycloneDitwah #SriLankaCrisis #IndiaHelps #AliSabry #SriLankaFloods #RescueOps #ColomboUpdates #DisasterResponse #World  🔊 LIKE ➡ SHARE ➡ SUBSCRIBE  Download the Asianet News App now!  Available on Android & iOS  👉 Android:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vserv.asianet&hl=en_IN   👉 iOS:  https://apps.apple.com/in/app/asianet-news-official/id1093450032   For More Updates:  Follow us on our What's app Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va5Bq3yKwqSLSQTxam0r  English: https://newsable.asianetnews.com/  Hindi: https://hindi.asianetnews.com/  Malayalam: https://www.asianetnews.com/  Kannada: https://kannada.asianetnews.com/  Tamil: https://tamil.asianetnews.com/  Telugu: https://telugu.asianetnews.com/  Bengali: https://bangla.asianetnews.com/  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsianetNewsa...  Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/AsianetNewsEN  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ann.newsable/  ➡ If you like our video, give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel to get the daily dosage of news, entertainment, sports and more.

Transcript

00:00Situation is little worrisome in Sri Lanka. As far as the cyclone is concerned,

00:04worse seems to be over, but the aftermath of it and the effect of it now only is getting realized.

00:10The situation as of about six o'clock today, about 153 deaths have been reported and 200,

00:16close to about 200, about 191 people are missing. India's response has been fabulous and so

00:24spontaneous and immediate. We are very, very grateful. I'm extremely, extremely grateful

00:29at a time when Sri Lanka wanted them the most, India had reached out.

00:33Mr. Sabri, thank you very much for speaking with A&I, sir. I hope you're safe. My first question

00:39to you is, of course, on the, you know, what is the current situation in Sri Lanka right now?

00:43If you can give us a brief about that since you are in Colombo.

00:47Yeah, thank you very much. And also at the outset, I must also thank the government and people of

00:54India, always showing solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka. The situation is a little worrisome in

01:00Sri Lanka. I think as far as the cyclone is concerned, worse seems to be over, but the aftermath

01:06of it and the effect of it now only is getting realized. Unfortunately, a lot of people throughout

01:12the country, unfortunately, none of the districts, 25 districts have been spared by this. Some of the

01:17districts are more affected, but no district had been spared. The situation as of about six o'clock today,

01:23about 153 deaths have been reported and 200, close to about 200, around 191 people are missing.

01:31Many more are unaccounted for and almost 770,000 people who are belonging to about 217,000 families

01:41are affected by this. And the worry is the rising river levels in some of the suburbs of Colombo and

01:53Gampaha and Western provinces as well as somewhere close to reservoirs and the rivers could be

02:00devastating to the people for the next couple of days. Yeah.

02:02Right. Mr. Sabri, you mentioned about India and yesterday Indian Prime Minister Modi expressed his

02:09condolences over the loss of life in Sri Lanka and said that New Delhi was ready to send more aid.

02:15India has, in fact, launched Operation Sagar Bandhu. How do you look at India's swift response?

02:21I think India's response has been fabulous and so spontaneous and immediate. We are very,

02:27very grateful. This is not the first time. India had always been a great friend of Sri Lanka

02:31and a great neighbour to have. So they have stood up to their reputation of the neighbourhood first

02:37policy. I'm extremely, extremely grateful at the time when Sri Lanka wanted them the most,

02:42India had reached out. I remember the same thing during the economic crisis, what India did

02:49during my time at the finance minister. Right. So we also saw your tweet where you said that

02:55Sri Lanka remembers with gratitude the crucial support that India extended during the 2022 economic crisis

03:02which you just mentioned. So just a broader question. How do you look at India's commitment

03:07to its neighbour during crisis? And as historically, India has always, you know, often been among the

03:13first responders during Sri Lankan emergency. So how do you see this bilateral relationship and the

03:19continuity in bilateral relationship? I think Sri Lanka and India for now, during the last two,

03:26three decades have excellent relationship bilaterally across the government, across the parties,

03:32across the who is in power. That's a great sign that people to people, contact them very, very strong.

03:38So India has been traditionally been the first respondent for Sri Lankan's crisis. And then that has

03:43been a very welcome gesture on the part of the people of India as well as the government of India. We must be

03:51extremely grateful to Prime Minister Modi, Srinarendra Modi and his government for always responding very

03:57fast, very quick. So that that's the most important thing at this point in time. And I think India is the

04:05leader in the region and they are living up to that leadership. And as I always told that regions which

04:14develop together and India has to play that role and and everyone must centre around that India's

04:20march so that everyone can benefit out of it. So we could see that India's approach has been benefiting

04:26not in the crisis and even even on the normal economic development. So we are very, very grateful for

04:31the Indian assistance. Right. So do you believe India's support sets an example for regional disaster

04:38cooperation? And do you foresee a growing role for international partners in rebuilding Sri Lanka's

04:43disaster hit regions? I think so. I think India had, if I correct, remember correctly, whenever there

04:53had been a disaster in the region, India had always taken the leadership. And and that should be a template

05:00for the future. And because small islands like Sri Lanka in the region and all the countries need

05:06some major players in the world to come to the fore at the time of crisis. So once India comes in,

05:16there are a lot of credibility on that and others will fall in line. So therefore, it's very, very

05:20important, which I saw that today, when India and yesterday, when India announced it, and today it

05:25had been followed by several others, including the United States government. So that's a that's a great

05:30architecture to see. And this is not the first time, you know, we remember during the during the economic

05:35crisis, the most recent past and also debt restructuring, debt sustainability, everywhere

05:41India had played its role. And I think it's fitting that India, India should given that given that credit

05:50for doing that. Right. Mr. Sabri, the IMF is providing Sri Lanka with financial support to

05:58stabilize its economy. But I believe there is no direct link between its ongoing assistance and

06:03the recent floods, as the support is based on economic reforms and debt restructuring. So

06:10should Sri Lanka negotiate more flexibility in IMF conditions to account for climate related disasters?

06:17I think going forward, probably we may look at it, but I am a parameters are different. IMF is trying

06:24to see that our economy is sustainable on the long run. But IMF also has some emergency funding

06:30mechanism like what they have done to Ukraine and some other countries outside the parameters of EFF.

06:37I must probably could look at that. And of course, Sri Lanka and many other countries have been pressing

06:43the in the COP 28, 29, we have been pressing for some sort of an accountability on the part of the

06:49the developed nation when it comes to this kind of a crisis, because these crises are not in isolation.

06:55This is not coming in a vacuum. This is where everyone has been contributed. Those who have contributed

07:00most are the most developed countries. So there has to be some architecture where this kind of event,

07:08those countries must come forward and contribute. So therefore, India taking the leadership in that

07:14and and create some sort of an architecture for the future could be a great thing to do. But right now,

07:20yes, I think Sri Lanka may need the support of the international community to rebuild our roads,

07:25infrastructure. And right now, the priority is to save life, look after the people who have been affected,

07:30rescue them. But next couple of days or thereafter, we will have a full account of the extent of the damage

07:38which has been caused by this havoc, unfortunately, and that probably a small country like Sri Lanka cannot

07:45stand on our own and do that. We need the support of the international community. I think I hope

07:51international development partners and and and IMF not under the EFF, but some some other emergency

07:59funding or World Banks and multilateral banks and the and the international community will come in aid of

08:05Sri Lanka to quickly rebuild and and not to lose the momentum of our great economic recovery,

08:13which probably I would say that India played a major major role.

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