Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as Sri Lanka's eighth President

New Delhi, July 21

Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the eighth President of Sri Lanka on Thursday by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.

In the election held on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe had secured 134 votes in a House of 225 MPs. India said it “has and will continue to be at the forefront of extending support to Sri Lanka and saw the peaceful election of the new President as a positive sign”. “We will continue to stand by the people of Sri Lanka,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a media briefing.

In an indication of the challenges ahead, a power outage stopped the live broadcast of Wickremesinghe’s swearing-in ceremony, forcing authorities to launch an investigation into the incident. Soon after getting elected as President, Wickremesinghe invited all political parties to join hands with him to overcome the economic crisis.