<span style="color: #222222;">External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar today held a virtual meeting with Finance Minister of Sri Lanka Basil Rajapaksa. During the meeting, Dr. Jaishankar conveyed that India has always stood with Sri Lanka, and will continue to support Sri Lanka in all possible ways for overcoming the economic and other challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic. He said, India and Sri Lanka stand to gain from closer economic inter-linkages as they are maritime neighbours. Dr. Jaishankar conveyed greetings to the Sri Lankan Finance Minister on the occasion of the festival of Pongal celebrated both in India and Sri Lanka.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Both the Ministers noted that extension of 400 million US dollar to Sri Lanka under the SAARC currency swap arrangement and deferral of ACU settlement of 515 million US dollar would assist Sri Lanka. The two Ministers reviewed the progress in extending Indian credit facility of 1 billion US dollar for importing food, essential items and medicine and 500 million US dollar for importing fuel from India.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr. Rajapaksa welcomed Indian investments in Sri Lanka in the sectors including ports, infrastructure, energy, renewable energy, power and manufacturing. He assured that conducive environment will be provided to encourage such investments. During the conversation, S. Jaishankar brought up the issue of Indian fishermen detained in Sri Lanka. He urged the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure early release of the detained fishermen on humanitarian considerations.</span>