'Baseless': India rejects reports suggesting involvement in transit of Gotabaya through Maldives

New Delhi, July 14: The Indian High Commission in Maldives on Thursday rejected the reports that claimed that the Government of India was involved in the reported transit of embattled Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa through the Maldives.

The Indian High Commission on Twitter 'categorically denies baseless reports that suggest that Govt of India was involved in the reported transit of Gotabaya through the Maldives''.

Earlier in the day, 73-year-old Rajapaksa, who had fled to the Maldives on Wednesday from Sri Lanka amidst a public revolt against him, left the country for Singapore. He departed from the Maldives on a Saudi Airline flight to Singapore.

The Singapore government later confirmed that it has allowed President Rajapaksa to enter the country on a ''private visit''.

In response to the media queries, a spokesperson for Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that President Rajapaksa has been "allowed entry into Singapore on a private visit".

He has not asked for asylum and neither has he been granted any asylum. Singapore generally does not grant requests for asylum, the spokesperson added.

Rajapaksa, the 73-year-old leader who had promised to resign on Wednesday, appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as the acting President hours after he fled the country, escalating the political crisis and triggering a fresh wave of protests in the island nation.

Rajapaksa, who enjoys immunity from prosecution while he is president, fled the country without resigning to avoid the possibility of arrest by the new government.

Rajapaksa's escape to the Maldives was negotiated by the Maldivian Majlis (Parliament) Speaker and former president Mohamed Nasheed.

Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials.