India's disaster relief assistance has increased substantially in recent years, from Rs 1.60 crore in FY23 to Rs 41.18 crore in FY24, and Rs 27.88 cr in FY25 (until January 2025).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka from April 4 to 6.
India's assistance to Sri Lanka increased by 112 per cent between financial year 2023-2024 (FY24) and FY25 (until January), but has declined significantly to Bangladesh, where violent protests forced Sheikh Hasina to resign as prime minister and seek refuge in India last August. (see chart 1).
In the wake of the earthquake in Myanmar, India has sent aid for its eastern neighbour.
India's disaster relief assistance has increased substantially in recent years, from Rs 1.60 crore in FY23 to Rs 41.18 crore in FY24, and Rs 27.88 cr in FY25 (until January 2025).
In addition to its development assistance, India has offered new loans, under the Lines of Credit (LOCs) and Concessional Financing Scheme (CFS), through a lending bank to six partner countries between January 2022 and January 2025.
The total amount of loans -- under LOCs and CFS -- offered to these partner countries during this period stands at over $3.73 billion.
This excludes disbursements for on-going projects under earlier LOCs.
The six partner countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Myanmar.
Over the years, out of the total LOCs of $32 billion under the 'Neighbourhood First' policy, India has extended LOCs worth $7.8 billion to Bangladesh, $1.65 billion to Nepal, over $ 2 billion to Sri Lanka, $745 million to Myanmar and $1.43 billion to Maldives.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
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