India says troops not going to Sri Lanka, calls reports untrue

New Delhi: India on Saturday dismissed claims that New Delhi is sending its troops to Sri Lanka amid an emergency imposed in the island nation, saying it is a fake information. Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka "strongly" denied "blatantly false and completely baseless reports in a section of media that India is dispatching its soldiers to Sri Lanka".

The High Commission also "condemned such irresponsible reporting and expects the concerned to desist from spreading rumours". To prevent unrest in the country, the Sri Lankan government has announced to impose a curfew from Saturday 6 p.m. to Monday 6 a.m.

The worst economic situation that the island nation is witnessing, has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a fall in revenue from tourism and remittances. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a state of emergency in the country giving the security forces wide authority to arrest and detain suspects with immediate effect.

Rajapaksa has issued the "Extraordinary Gazette" declaring a public emergency after hundreds of protesters gathered in the capital and many of them tried to storm the President's residence to protest against the government for "poor management of economic policies, which has created mess in the country". The President said he believed there was a "public emergency in Sri Lanka" that necessitated invoking the tough laws.