India refutes speculative media reports on sending troops to Sri Lanka

In its first reaction to the massive political turmoil in Colombo, India on Sunday said it stands with the Sri Lankan people

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Monday dismissed speculation about it sending troops to deal with the political unrest in Sri Lanka, even as the ruling BJP’s leader and former parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy suggested New Delhi must extend military help if the neighbouring country’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked for it.

The High Commission of India in Colombo tweeted categorically denying speculative reports in sections of media and social media about India sending troops to Sri Lanka.

What fuelled the speculation is a tweet by Subramanian Swamy. “Both Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa were elected in a free election with thumping majority. How can India allow a mob to overturn such a legitimate election? Then no democratic country in our neighbourhood will be safe,” the former BJP member of the Rajya Sabha posted on Twitter. “If Rajapaksa wants India’s military help, we must give.”

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Gotabaya, who took over as the President of Sri Lanka on November 18, 2019, has agreed to step down, after thousands of protesters demanding his resignation stormed the presidential palace in the island nation’s capital on Saturday. The protesters were blaming him for failing to pre-empt or manage the economic crisis that the island nation had plunged into a few months back.

Rajapaksa is now likely to resign on Wednesday.

His brother Mahinda Rajapaksa had already resigned as the prime minister of the country on May 9, amid widespread protests against the government.

After Swamy argued that New Delhi should send troops to the Indian Ocean island nation, the High Commission of India in Colombo clarified that such views were not in keeping with the position of the Government of India.

India on Sunday vowed to stand with the people of Sri Lanka, even as the political crisis continued in the neighbouring island nation, New Delhi, however, stressed on sticking to democratic means in Sri Lanka.