“Baseless, Speculative”: India denies helping Sri Lankan President Gotabaya to flee country

Colombo: India on Wednesday denied as "baseless" and "speculative" reports that it helped beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee his country to The Maldives.

The Indian High Commission here said it "categorically denies (as) baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported travel of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa out of Sri Lanka.

"It is reiterated that India will continue to support the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established democratic institutions and constitutional framework," the mission tweeted.

President Rajapaksa, who had to vacate his President's House in Colombo after thousands of protesters stormed it on July 9, flew out of Sri Lanka in an air force plane along with his wife and two security guards and reached Male.

Protests against his flight immediately erupted in Colombo and also in Male, where both Maldivian citizens and Sri Lankan expatriates took to the streets to demand that Rajapaksa be sent back to Sri Lanka. (UNI)