State Of Emergency: Ship Carrying Diesel From India Reaches Lanka

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New Delhi: A ship carrying 40,000 tonnes of diesel from India has reached Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday after hundreds of angry protesters tried to storm his house and clashed with the police as the island nation of 22 million people reels under an unprecedented economic crisis.

The declaration of emergency allows the Sri Lankan military to arrest or detain suspects without trial as demand for Rajapaksa’s ouster spread across the nation.

Rajapaksa’s office said on Friday that the protesters wanted to create an “Arab Spring”.

A severe shortage of foreign currency has left Rajapaksa’s government unable to pay for essential imports, including fuel.