Sri Lanka govt asks Thailand to grant entry to Gotabaya Rajapaksa
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The Sri Lankan government has made a request to Thailand for its former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to enter the country, said Tanee Sangrat, director general of Thailand's Information Department, Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Thai foreign ministry's spokeswoman, Tanee Sangrat, said in a statement on Wednesday that the former leader of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, will come to Thailand for a brief period of time but has no plans to apply for political asylum there.
Tanee claims that Thailand has received a request for Rajapaksa's entry from the current Sri Lankan government. The former president's diplomatic passport grants him 90 days of visa-free access into Thailand.
In response to a media inquiry regarding the visit of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Tanee Sangrat provided the following statement: The Thai side received a request for the former President to enter Thailand from the current government of Sri Lanka. The consideration was based on long-standing and cordial ties between the two countries.
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He said that "As a holder of a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport, the former President can enter Thailand w/o a visa for 90 days, per the 2013 Agreement on Visa Exemptn betwn Thailand+Sri Lanka. The stay’s temporary w/ aim of onward travel. No political asylum’s been sought".
In the middle of April, Sri Lanka stopped paying its foreign debt of $51 billion. The economy has been devastated, imports have been hindered, and shortages of fuel, medication, and other necessities have resulted from its declining foreign currency.
People throughout the nation are becoming more and more burdened by the skyrocketing cost of living, which increased to a record 60.8 percent in July.
Rajapaksa handed up his resignation letter from Singapore after leaving the nation. Last month, he was succeeded by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
(With inputs from agencies)
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