Demand for interim Govt. And  fresh elections are growing the country

The violent turn of events in Sri Lanka leading to the resignation of Prime Minister Mahindra Rajapaksa and subsequent arson and rioting have raised fears of continued instability in the island nation. The way protestors freely went around setting fire to the houses of the powerful Rajapaksa family even after the Prime minister submitted his resignation has worsened the situation. Amid fears that if the violence did not subside martial law had to be imposed, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family have reportedly taken shelter at a naval base in  the northeast part of the island nation. Demand for an interim Government, the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and fresh elections under an interim Government are growing in the country. It is unlikely that these could be ignored much longer.  Sri Lanka has been a victim of both prolonged mis-governance and misfortune. Deep-rooted corruption and disastrous handling of the economy coupled with the destruction of the truism industry by the Covid-19 pandemic have brought Sri Lanka to the brink of a collapse. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which impacted oil prices and food grains import, turned out to be the last nail in the coffin. It’s time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa reached out to the opposition parties and protestors, showed statesmanship, and restored the democratic process. This is important for Sri Lanka because the imposition of martial law could invite global sanctions with disastrous consequences. By Now Sri Lanka must have realized that easy access to Chinese dole has its flip side too. Such loans cannot sustain the economy of a country. They can only lure a nation into a debt trap.

India must take serious note of the developments in Sri Lanka. New Delhi has done its bit by extending a line of credit. But the crisis is far too deep to be tackled by such measures. Still, India has to do everything in its command to restore peace on the island. Such upheaval in a neighboring country cannot be ignored. The Lankan situation also has another lesson for India: That populism comes at a heavy price. The reduction of central taxes in Sri Lanka in 2018 was one such step that drastically reduced the Government revenue prompting rating agencies to downgrade Sri Lanka to near default levels. The country’s access to overseas markets was lost, leaving Colombo no option but to dig into its foreign exchange reserves to pay off Government debt. In no time, the foreign reserves came down from $6.9 billion in 2018 to less than $1 billion.  The ill-conceived decision of the Lankan Government to ban the use of fertilizers in farming also led to a sharp fall in agricultural produce, further deepening the crisis. India and the world need to do everything possible to ensure  peace returns to the island nation.