Will soon announce our contribution to SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund: Sri Lanka

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of $10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

PTI

March 23, 2020 / 13:27 IST

The Sri Lankan government has said it will soon announce its contribution to the SAARC Coronavirus Emergency Fund proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an initial offer of $10 million from India to help combat the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic in the region, according to a media report on March 23. The government, however, did not specify the amount it will contribute to the fund.

"We will announce our amount soon. The Cabinet has to do decide it," Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh Gunawardane was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.

Sri Lanka's willingness to contribute to the fund has been communicated to New Delhi, he said.

In a video conference on forming a joint strategy to fight COVID-19 in the SAARC region, Prime Minister Modi on March 15 proposed the emergency fund with an initial offer of $10 million from India and asserted that the best way to deal with the coronavirus pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

Subsequently, Nepal and Afghanistan pledged $1 million each, Maldives committed $200,000, Bhutan $100,000 and Bangladesh pledged $1.5 million to the fund.

COVID-19 Vaccine

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