Why Are Sri Lankans Queuing For Passports?

Sri Lankans queued up to apply for fresh passports outside the department of immigration and emigration office in Colombo.

The Sri Lankan parliament will elect a new president today, July 20, to fill the rest of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term in office. Gotabaya resigned as president on July 15 after he fled the country the previous day.

The island confronts its worst-ever economic crisis and India is naturally worried over the 'very serious crisis' in Sri Lanka and there are 'very strong' lessons of fiscal prudence, responsible governance and not having 'a culture of freebies' to be learnt, External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, July 19.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com