‘Grateful for India’s swift support’: Sri Lanka President thanks PM Modi for fuel aid amid Middle East crisis

NEW DELHI: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External affairs minister S Jaishankar after India sent an oil shipment to ease the fuel supply disruption due to Middle East conflict.“Spoke with PM Narendra Modi a few days ago about the fuel supply disruptions Sri Lanka is facing due to the Middle East conflict,” Dissanayake said in a post on X.“Grateful for India’s swift support. 38,000 MT of fuel arrived in Colombo yesterday. My thanks also to EAM S Jaishankar for his close coordination.” he added.This comes after New Delhi supplied 38,000 metric tonnes of fuel to Sri Lanka, including 20,000 MT of diesel and 18,000 MT of petrol.

The emergency consignment was arranged after Lanka IOC faced difficulties sourcing fuel from suppliers in the Middle East and Singapore, prompting a request for assistance from India.Earlier, Sri Lanka had also engaged with external affairs minister S Jaishankar to explore support on energy sustainability amid the crisis.Facing supply pressures, Sri Lanka imposed fuel quotas from March 15 to prevent hoarding and long queues, with authorities taking legal action against violators. The country’s energy ministry has, however, said that existing supplies are sufficient to last until the end of May.