Big brother and neighbour India has helped Sri Lanka amid its economic crisis: Sanath Jayasuriya

Former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya spoke about the severe crisis plaguing the island nation and went on to praise `big brother` India for its support.

Colombo: Nationwide protests continue in Sri Lanka as the country continues to suffer and bear the brunt of a severe economic crisis. Former Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya spoke about the crisis plaguing the island nation and went on to praise "big brother" India for its support.

'We are very grateful to the Indian government and the Prime Minister'

Calling India a "big brother", Jayasuriya lauded the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for sending help to the island nation as it battles the worst economic crisis since independence. "You know as always as a neighbour, the big brother next to our country has been helping us... We are very grateful to the Indian government and the Prime Minister (Modi). So, for us even to survive it is not very easy at the moment... I hope that things will change and also with the help of India and other countries, we are trying to come out from this situation," Jayasuriya told ANI. India has supplied over 270,000 MT fuel to Sri Lanka so far to help ease the power crisis in the island country which is witnessing acute power cuts. 

Queues stretching up to 3-4 km for essential commodities: It has been really hard for the people of Sri Lanka

Jayasuriya has called Sri Lanka's situation "unfortunate" and said the people of the country are going through this for a few months now and it has come to a breakpoint. "People can't survive like this. This is why they started to protest because there are fuel shortages, gas shortages, and electricity is not there for 10-12 hours sometimes. It has been really hard for the people of this country. That's why people have started to come out and protest," Jayasuriya told ANI. The former cricketer cautioned if the situation is not addressed properly "it will be a disaster." Jayasuriya pointed out that there are queues stretching up to 3-4 kilometres for essential commodities like diesel, gas, milk powder, etc.

Jayasuriya urged his country's people to protest peacefully. "I would like to say do protest peacefully, not violently. It's the protest by genuine people who come out and tell the government that they are suffering," he told ANI.

The Sri Lankan rupee is fast depreciating against the dollar and foreign debt is mounting. The Sri Lankan government's income has also taken a big hit due to a drop in tourism that has given rise to gas and fuel shortages, leading to massive power cuts.

(With ANI inputs)