India to provide $450 million cyclone relief package to Sri Lanka, foreign minister says

India will provide an assistance package worth $450 million to Sri Lanka for cyclone relief and repair, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

"Just as Sri Lanka was recovering from the economic crisis of 2022, this natural disaster has created new difficulties," Jaishankar, who is on a two-day visit to the island nation, said in remarks made alongside Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.

Jaishankar said the assistance would cover areas worst hit by the cyclone such as the restoration of railway, road and bridge connectivity, as well as rebuilding destroyed houses.

-Shilpa Jamkhandikar/Reuters