Debt-stricken Sri Lanka marks independence day as new president pledges to rebuild the country

Debt-stricken Sri Lanka has marked its 77th independence anniversary with a military parade, while the country’s newly elected president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, pledged to heal Sri Lanka's economic woes by the end of his five-year term. Sri Lanka, which gained independence from Britain in 1948, suffered its worst economic crisis in 2022, forcing the island nation to declare bankruptcy. It also suspended repayments on some $83 billion in domestic and foreign loans amid a foreign exchange crisis that led to a severe shortage of food, medicine, fuel and cooking gas, and hourslong power cuts. The economic crisis led to political upheaval and paved the way for Dissanayake’s party to win power four months ago.