Adhir Chowdhury calls for all-party meet on Sri Lankan crisis

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], July 13 (ANI): With Sri Lanka reeling from its worst economic crisis, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday asked the Centre to convene an all-party meeting over the issue.
Speaking to ANI, Chowdhury, "The ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka is a matter of concern. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should call for an all-party meeting for the national security interest."
Chowdhury further said India should take proactive measures as India and Sri Lanka have always shared a good relationship.
"Since Sri Lanka is close to South India, there are chances that due to this ongoing crisis people from the island nation may come to take refuge in these places. India needs to look upon the kind of situation in a healthier and more proactive manner unitedly," added Chowdhury.
As protests intensified in the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo, protestors who had gathered outside Sri Lanka PM's office have taken over his residence at Flower Road in Colombo.
Security personnel resorted to tear-gas shelling to drive away protestors on the streets of Colombo.
Reports came that the embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa escaped to the Maldives and appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the interim President of Sri Lanka.
Wickremesinghe later today declared an emergency and imposed a curfew in the western province of the country as protesters came prepared to face tear gas shelling by security forces deployed outside Wickremesinghe's residence. Air patrolling also began around the PM's residence.
Sri Lankan authorities confirmed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had flown to the Maldives with his wife and two bodyguards after full approval of the country's Defence Ministry. The Prime Minister's Office confirmed that Gotabaya had landed at the Velana International Airport in Male on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane.
The crisis-hit island country's Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that he is yet to receive a letter of resignation from Gotabaya.
"We haven't received President Gotabaya's resignation yet, but we hope to get one in a day," Abeywardena told ANI.
73-year-old Gotabaya Rajapaksa had gone into hiding after crowds of protestors stormed his residence on July 9 and he had announced that he will resign on July 13.
The country is facing a severe shortage of fuel and other essential supplies and is in the throes of its worst economic crisis with soaring inflation. (ANI)