New Delhi: Commonwealth Group Secretary General Patricia Scotland has expressed her happiness over India’s assistance to the suffering Sri Lanka. He said India’s generous and multilateral assistance to Sri Lanka to help it face the unprecedented economic crisis is welcome. Secretary General Scotland also spoke about India’s key role in tackling the global food crisis. He said the Commonwealth was working towards a more holistic approach to ensure food security. He said that Sri Lanka was happy to see India’s generous and multilateral assistance. It exemplifies both the spirit and values of the Commonwealth.
In Waghara he said that we are a family of nations and people of the family are ready to help each other in times of need. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has helped the people of Sri Lanka for stability and economic recovery through democratic means. Let it be known that India has helped Sri Lanka this year with more than 3.8 billion US dollars to face the economic crisis.
Sri Lanka needs the support of the international community
Scotland further said that addressing the unprecedented challenges that Sri Lanka is facing requires the dedication and perseverance of its leaders as well as the support of the international community. On the global food crisis, Scotland said the world is facing it due to many factors such as conflict, climate change and the economic impacts of COVID-19.
A charter created to address the food crisis
Scotland said it called on the international community to provide immediate practical and financial support to countries and communities most in need to tackle this critical crisis. Leaders agreed on the charter at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June, he said. The leaders supported the group’s efforts to bring a new and more holistic approach to food security. Scotland said the charter would enable us to work with countries like India to produce more food and manage land more sustainably. Referring to the global challenges, he said that India is very important in the fight against climate change.
He is on a four-day visit to India
It may be mentioned that Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland visited India for four days. Here he interacted with his Indian interlocutors on several regional and global issues like climate change, economic recovery after the Corona pandemic and ways to boost trade. Both India and Sri Lanka are among the 56 members of the Commonwealth.