Sri Lanka not averse to using Indian rupee as common currency: President Wickremesinghe
Colombo (PTI): Sri Lanka would want to see the Indian rupee used as much as the US dollar, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, days ahead of his first official visit to New Delhi.
Wickremesinghe, also the cash-strapped country's finance minister, made this remark while addressing the Indian CEO Forum here this week.
"Just as East Asia, including countries like Japan, Korea and China, witnessed significant growth 75 years ago, it is now India's turn, along with the Indian Ocean region," Wickremesinghe said.
Wickremesinghe is expected to visit New Delhi next week, his first since becoming president a year ago amidst unprecedented economic and political turmoil in the island nation.
Wickremesinghe's comments were in response to the chair of the Forum, T S Prakash, who in his address had called for the enhanced use of the Indian rupee in the Sri Lankan economy.
"It makes no difference to us if India (the Indian rupee) becomes a common currency. We will have to figure out how to go about it. We must become more open to the outside world", Wickremesinghe said.
"The world is evolving and India is undergoing rapid development, particularly under Prime Minister Modi's leadership", he added.
He also said that Sri Lanka benefits from its proximity to India, coupled with a rich history, cultural heritage and longstanding trading relationships spanning 2,500 years, The Daily Mirror newspaper quoted him as saying.
Wickremesinghe has steered the island nation out of the economic crisis and said the economy is recovering despite its slowness.
"Once we complete debt restructuring our focus will shift towards a comprehensive growth agenda. This entails a massive overhaul of our economy, legal framework and systems aligning our path with that of India," he said. Wickremesinghe
The 74-year-old Sri Lankan politician was elected through parliament to fill in the rest of the term of the ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka-India relationship history points to that it was unusual that Wickremesinghe's tour to Delhi had taken a year to happen, analysts noted.
India had thrown a lifeline to the last days of the Rajapaksa presidency with an economic assistance package that amounted to 4 billion dollars.
Sri Lanka used the Indian credit lines to import essentials and fuel as the country was gripped in forex shortages which triggered massive street protests.
Meanwhile, the High Commissioner of India in Sri Lanka Gopal Bagle who was at the July 13 event, said that the Indian government and the Indian business community have helped the island nation in recuperating from the last year's financial crisis.
"Even during the initial crisis, Indian businessmen began doing business in Sri Lanka to demonstrate to the rest of the world that the country's financial status is stable," Bagle was quoted as saying by the Sri Lankan media.
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First in Malayalam movie artists association history, women elected to its top leadership
Kochi, Aug 15 (PTI): In a first in the history of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), women were elected to its top leadership positions.
Women actors Shwetha Menon and Kukku Parameswaran were elected as president and general secretary of the organisation respectively. Besides them, Ansiba Hasan was elected as joint secretary and Lakshmi Priya as the vice president.
State Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian welcomed the development, saying it was his personal view that women should come to the leadership posts of AMMA.
"I say this because it is necessary to create more opportunities for women in the film industry. It is for the first time that women are being elected to the leadership positions of AMMA," he said.
The minister congratulated Menon, Parameswaran and Hasan, saying that they were all competent and strong women.
"Let them all work together. I see it as evidence of the continuation of the changes brought about in the film industry following the recently held cinema conclave," Cherian said.
He also said that it was an indication of the good times that will come for the Malayalam film industry.
"I am not saying men are bad. For so long men were heading it. Let women rule come now," he added.
