January 25, 2021 Weeks after India’s External Affairs Minister visited Sri Lanka, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave the green light to the India-backed port project in Colombo. The project, earlier put on hold following protests by workers’ unions, is approved at a time when the island nation is seeking a $2-billion financial lifeline from New Delhi. Reports suggest that the Rajapaksa government has been seeking a $1 billion currency swap and $1 billion debt moratorium from India to save it from sinking into a sea of foreign debt. Sri Lanka’s economic situation has turned worse of late. As of September 2020, the country was facing $51.6 billion in foreign debt, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. The foreign reserves dropped to $5.5 billion as of November 2020, down from the $7.6 billion in December 2019.