indias trade with sri lanka has nearly stopped following the unrest in the island nation leaving exporters worried about their payments our exports and imports have come to a complete standstill exporters are very cautious because of the political crisis and payment issues federation of indian export organisations fieo vicechairman khalid khan said however he expressed hope that once the new government takes office in sri lanka situation may improve sri lanka a country of 22 million people is facing an unprecedented economic turmoil the worst in seven decades leaving millions struggling to buy food medicines fuel and other essentials the grim situation has resulted in a civil unrest advt the country with an acute foreign currency crisis that resulted in foreign debt default had announced in april that it is suspending nearly usd 7 billion foreign debt repayment due for this year out of about usd 25 billion due through 2026 sri lankas total foreign debt stands at usd 51 billion fieo director general ajay sahai said political stability will help in resumption of trade at present goods which are under sbi and exim banks line of credit are being exported to that country and they include key raw materials for industry pharma fertiliser food and textiles sahai said in 202122 export of goods from india was worth usd 58 billion while it was usd 550 million in april this year in last fiscal year import stood at usd 1 billion it was usd 7468 million in april 2022 a free trade agreement between india and sri lanka came into effect in 2000 in addition to being one of the largest trade partners of sri lanka india is also one of the largest contributors to foreign direct investment into that country mumbaibased exporter and chairman of technocraft industries sharad kumar saraf said not only exporters businesses who have invested there are also very worried about the current turmoil there advt the main investments from india are in the areas of petroleum retail tourism hotel manufacturing real estate telecommunication banking and financial services trade has come down drastically exporters are worried about their payments my business with sri lanka has dipped to 25 per cent since january saraf added sharing similar views chairman of farida group rafeeq ahmed said trade has virtually stopped due to the ongoing crisis in sri lanka exporters are confused at the moment nobody wants to engage with that country he added rajesh menon dg siam society of indian automobile manufacturers said sri lanka is a key market for the domestic auto industry and we hope that the economic situation improves in that country at the earliest enabling reinstatement of the indian automobile exports indias exports to sri lanka include engineering goods chemicals iron and steel agri commodities mineral fuel pharma products plastic goods and paper items imports include agri produce textile goods boats fruits and nuts pti published on jul 13 2022 at 0803 pm ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one