New Delhi: India on Tuesday (December 23) announced a $450 million reconstruction package for a Sri Lanka left devastated by Cyclone Ditwah and its accompanying floods and mudslides.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar, who travelled to Colombo in his capacity as special envoy of the prime minister, announced that the package will consist of concessional lines worth $350 million and grants worth $100 million.

It will cover five areas of recovery – repairing roads, railways and bridges; rebuilding houses; support for health and educational systems; support for agriculture, including means to address potential short and medium-term shortages; and working on better disaster preparedness and response – and its details are being finalised in consultation with Colombo, Jaishankar said.

He met Sri Lankan President Anura Dissanayake earlier on Tuesday, and the two discussed the

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