Sri Lankan minister Hemachandra lauds Indian evacuation of Sri Lankans from Iran

Sri Lanka has welcomed the Indian announcement on evacuation of Sri Lankan nationals from Iran as the West Asia crisis intensifies. Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, Arun Hemachandra, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka said, that this "This gesture exemplifies the spirit of regional solidarityand trusted friendship that our nationals have built over decades". This is not the first time India has evacuated nationals from neighbouring countries during a crisis. During the 2022 Operation Ganga evacuation from Ukraine, India had evacuated foreign nationals from neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. During 2020, evacuation from Wuhan, China during the outbreak of COVID, India evacuated Maldives nationals. The Sri Lankan Deputy Foreign minister hoped that the situation in west Asia will come to normal soon. Full Interview:

Indian mission in Tehran has announcedthat they will help in evacuationof Sri Lankan nationals. If you can give your reaction to this?

Arun Hemachandra: Well, in light of the rapidly escalating situation in the region, I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Government of India for their timely and generous assistance in facilitating the evacuation of Sri Lankan nationals from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Under Operation Sindhu, not only Indian citizens were brought to safety, but the Indian authorities also extended their helping hand to Sri Lankans and other South Asian nationals. This gesture exemplifies the spirit of regional solidarity and trusted friendship that our nationals have built over decades.

Sir, perhaps if you can talk about the number of Sri Lankan nationals in Iran to give a broader view to us, and I believe that the Sri Lankan government also announced last week that you are moving your embassy to north of Iran?

Arun Hemachandra: Due to the tensions seen in the region, we took a decision to shift the embassy from Iran to the northern part of Iran. And overall, there are 30 plus Sri Lankans living in Iran, as per the statistics that we have, including the embassy staff. So we are grateful, once again, to India's External Affairs Ministry and Indian Embassy in Tehran for their proactive coordination and the care they extended.

What is the Sri Lankan stance of the West Asian crisis? If you can put in perspective.
Arun Hemachandra: The primary motive at the moment is the safety of Sri Lankan citizens, those who are in Israel as well as Iran. So we are looking forward to making sure that each and every Sri Lankan citizen is protected and safeguarded. And in terms of the bilateral relationship, we do have relationships with both nations. And so we are really watching this situation, and then we hope there will be normalcy very soon.