India backs Sri Lanka to secure IMF bailout plan amid crisis

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — India’s foreign minister says his country has given financial assurances to the International Monetary Fund to facilitate a bailout plan to help neighboring Sri Lanka emerge from its worst economic crisis, in a first formal announcement from one of the island nation’s creditors. India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar announced the support Friday while on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, where he met with President Ranil Wickremesinghe and other Cabinet ministers. Sri Lanka and the IMF have reached a preliminary agreement on a $2.9 billion bailout plan over four years, but final approval depends on assurances given by creditors on the debt restructuring.